Recognized by the Fairfax Times and featured by ABC News, Rekha Thirumlai is the founder of Sing for Smiles, a youth-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to bringing joy and human connection to seniors through music and companionship. Founded while she was still a student, Sing for Smiles mobilizes young volunteers to visit retirement and memory care communities, creating meaningful face-to-face moments for residents living with loneliness, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Through volunteer outreach, live music, and community events, the organization has already raised over $4,000 to support experiences and activities for senior residents.

The idea for Sing for Smiles began with something Rekha noticed in high school. Students were constantly encouraged to complete community service hours, but many of the opportunities available were indirect—assembling kits, making cards, or completing projects where volunteers never actually met the people they were helping. Rekha felt something was missing. Service, she believed, should be human. It should involve eye contact, conversation, laughter, and shared moments. It should create a real impact for both the volunteer and the person being served.

That belief led her to begin volunteering in senior living and memory care communities. There, she saw firsthand the quiet reality many residents face. Many seniors, especially those living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, experience profound isolation. Conversations can become difficult. Memories fade. Families visit less often. Days can begin to blend together.

But then Rekha experienced a moment that would ultimately shape the mission of Sing for Smiles. During one visit, there was a resident who had been nonverbal for years due to advanced Alzheimer’s disease. Staff had shared that he rarely spoke anymore. Rekha began singing a familiar Beatles song in the room, softly at first. And then something remarkable happened. The resident began to sing along. For the first time in three years, his voice returned—following the melody of the song. For those few moments, the disease seemed to fade into the background. The music had reached something deeper than memory.

That moment stayed with Rekha.

It revealed something powerful: music has the ability to reach people even when words cannot. It can unlock memories, emotions, and pieces of identity that illness tries to take away.

From that experience, Sing for Smiles was born. What began as a small group of students visiting senior communities quickly grew into a passionate youth-led effort dedicated to bringing music, companionship, and joy to seniors who need it most. Volunteers perform songs from past decades, talk with residents, dance, laugh, and create moments of connection that remind seniors they are not forgotten. At the same time, Sing for Smiles gives students something equally powerful: the chance to experience service that is personal, meaningful, and transformative.

Because sometimes, the most powerful form of service isn’t something you assemble or donate. Sometimes, it’s simply sitting beside someone and singing a song together.