Walkathon 2008: 'Walk' to express your solidarity towards disabled

In India, there are 16.4 lakh people who cannot speak, 12.6 lakh people who cannot hear, 61 lack people who cannot walk, over 22 lakh people who are not lucky enough to be mentally strong. We might not be able to eradicate disability of 2.2 crore people in India [Census 2001], but we can definitely show our solidarity towards "differently abled" people. We may take few more years to eradicate the feeling of discrimination against disabled, but we can definitely start taking initiatives to make that discrimination a distant memory.

 If you are not aware, "The World Disabled Day" is celebrated on 3rd December world over. Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled has planned to mark this wonderful day by organizing the "Great Walkathon." It's not a marathon, but it's an opportunity for all of us to walk for a noble cause. Walkathon is a platform to bring together people from different walks of life along with the differently abled and create a feeling of solidarity. The Great Walkathon intends to sensitize the public about the plight and difficulties of the disabled people and raise awareness find solutions to their prevalent problems.

Walkathon, when? where?
Date: 6th of December, 2008
Time: 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm
Venue: Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangaluru

The walk is for about 3.5kms starting and ending at Shree Kanteerava Stadium. The event is followed by cultural activities by our very talented blind & disabled children and from other institutions. Organizers are expecting a gathering of around 25,000 enthusiastic participants in this year’s walkathon.

Coincidently, "this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, making the commemoration of World Disabled Day all the more relevant. With 10% of the world’s population being differently abled, and a majority of this population living in the developing countries, creating awareness & sensitizing the public about this issue becomes very imperative. So let us come together to enforce the judiciary to make the State and Private infrastructure “Disabled Friendly”[Samarthana]."

If you think you "can be" a part of this event and express your solidarity for differently abled people, please do so. It's a precious opportunity for all of us.

If you would like to contribute towards the event, please do so. Contact Supraja for registration. You can reach her at 98452 09884. Registration details and other benifits are as follows.

A) Registration Fees(Will be used for supporting differently abled people): Rs.50/-, Rs.150/-, Rs.500/-, Rs.1000/-, Rs.5000/-, Rs.10000/-

B) Additional Benifits:

• Participation Certificates 
• Cap 
• T-shirt 
• Tax Exemption Receipt under Section 80G 
• 100% Tax Exemption Receipt under Section 35AC which would be used for the "Vidya Prasad, Mid-day Meal" programme of Samarthanam. 
• Mementoes 
• Souvenir

C)Modes of payment: Kindly issue Cash/Cheque/DD in favour of  ""Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled", Bengaluru.
You Can transfer funds through online: Axis Bank A/C No- 227010100054029, ICICI Bank A/C No. - 005301026969, HDFC Bank A/C No.-01331110000020.

Walk in the Walkathon, express your solidarity, make a difference!