As the countdown for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon closes near, we just have four days before the showpiece kickstarts here on Sunday.
The charity drive for this year’s ADHM already received overwhelming response with `4.50 crore being raised, which is the highest fund raised in all eight years of the event so far. The organisers have been collecting funds through their philanthropic partner, India Care Foundation, which is associated with 104 NGOs and 43 Care Champions.
Vivek Singh, Joint MD of Procam International, said `4.50 crore has already been raised, with still six days left. And, praised everyone’s contribution in this landmark.
“Everyone from teenage kids to the big corporations have helped in raising this amount collectively displaying their support towards socials causes,” he explained.
Among the contributors, three young children have raised impressive sums — Atish Kumar Sahu, Sana Khatoun and Santaj, 15. They are students of lotus Petal Charitable Foundation. They raised over `3 lakh.
13-year-old Atish said his motivation behind raising the funds is to ensure even the underprivileged kids get the opportunity to go to school properly.
“The charity is to ensure everyone gets the chance to go to school and study properly to pursue their dreams,” he explained.
All the three children will also be running in the marathon for the first time this year. 15-year-old Sana has some racing experiences, but this is also her first time in marathon.
When asked about her priority for Sunday’s race, Sana replied, “I want to complete the race.”
Saloni Bharadwaj, trustee of lotus Petal Foundation said they raised the money by conducting several events in school and attracted interests from many people through social media as well, who willingly contributed.
The eighth edition of the event is scheduled for November 29, and would see a total of 34,000 runners from different corners of the world.