News Stories

Running for a Cause

In the month of October 2008, when fundraising attempts on GiveMeaning for the HELP (Human Education and Liberation for the Poor) Evening School at Koliyonkulam (Tamil Nadu) did not succeed, and only 5% of the $2,308 fundraising goal had been raised in four months, Local Representative Jegan Tharmaraj decided to run the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009 - Asia's biggest charity event for NGOs - in order to mobilize resources for the project.

Jegan plans to run in the Half-Marathon scheduled for 18th January 2009 - a distance of 21.097 km - and is currently practicing intensely for the event. Having previously participated in local running events, he is quite confident of his success. He is supported by charity partner United Way of Mumbai and the State Bank of India in this cause.

Jegan’s initiative has managed to spread awareness and enthusiasm about the school, and has already raised more than $220. The pledges raised will be fixed-deposited in the name of the school and the interest used to meet its running expenses of the school.

Next, Koliyonkulam plans to introduce skill training for its students in an effort to build their self-reliance, for which a village leader has already promised suitable accomodation. As an apt beginning, keyboard training has already been started in November 2008.

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