The top CEOs of the country came together to raise funds for cancer kids by riding from India Gate top Gateway of India. They share their experiences
Jaideep Khanna, CEO and country head of Barclays India; Prashant Mehta, founding partner of lightbox and Arun Saigal, a banker by profession (who has also spent over 12 years at Barclays in Mumbai) along with a few more bikers travelled from India Gate to the Gateway of India to raise funds for kids suffering from cancer.
Where did the idea originateIJ
Jaideep Khanna: The gentleman who started St Judes memorial wanted to support kids suffering from cancer and their family. Soon doctors raised concern that kids affected by cancer undergo chemotherapy and this makes their immune system weak. We also came to know about the living conditions of these kids and their families. People are spending a high amount of money the treatment for these kids, but no attention is paid towards providing a healthy and cheerful environment to ensure fast recovery. And that's how we came up with the idea of this ride and raising money to support such NGO.
How many days it will take to complete and where are the participants going to stay at nightIJ What are the stopsIJ
Prashant Mehta: Since our idea is Wheel’s won’t stop, we are going to take rest and sleep in moving utility vehicles. The cycling will happen in a relay format. We have made three groups where one group finishes cycling 100 kms, other group joins in.
How many kilometers riders are going to ride the cycleIJ
Arun Saigal: We are following relay format with three sets of riders, each rider will ride around 500 kms over three days, an equivalent of 200kms/day. Each set of riders will ride for four hours (100km) at a stretch.
How you going to raise fund with this eventIJ
Khanna: Through this ride we want to encourage people who are fortunate enough to give a little more. And through our experience in our society we have realised that if you genuinely ask people and give them a credible opportunity. People are very generous. We have doctors, bankers, VC industry experts in our group, we have reached out to each of our individual networks and we have a diverse group of families, friends, colleagues and even to our clients. The team itself has raised 15 to 20 per cent of the amount. Post the ride these Scott bikes will be auctioned and after selling the same the profits will be added to the funds.
How much fund money are you expecting from this eventIJ
Khanna: We have given ourselves a target of 1.50 crore and so we have already raised 1.35 crore.
How did you manage to bring entrepreneurs, bankers, et al. on one single platformIJ
Mehta: We are taking up this initiative for a few reasons. We are a bunch of adventure enthusiasts and friends, we cycle together. We all believe in pushing the envelope and challenging ourselves. Also, we have been fortunate enough, and we want to contribute to society. For all of us ability to put our foot forward and give back to people through NGOs such as St. Jude.
When did you plan to organise this eventIJ
Saigal: We trained for this event for four months. And we joined hands with big brands to provide us equipment and technical support. Issuzu has come forward to provide logistical support.