The Marathon is long over, but the city is still reeling under its effects. As Standard Chartered and GiveIndia Foundation got together to thank all good Samaritans, one realised the enormous impact of the event. The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, 2006 has raised over Rs3 crore as against Rs2.5 crore in 2005. And the amount will go further up with pledges from runners still pouring in.
In the presence of celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, actor Yana Gupta, former national sprint champion Adille Sumariwala, Essar’s Manish Kedia, Air-India’s Jitendra Bhargav, Procam’s Vivek Singh, and Standard Chartered’s Amita Kini-Singh, Venkat Krishna of GiveIndia elaborated on where and how the donations were going to be utilised. “The money won’t go to GiveIndia. It would be channelised through GiveIndia to over 96 non-profit organisations,” he said.
Forty-four companies participated, fielding 60 teams in the GiveIndia Corporate Challenge (CC). In addition to Rs1.2 crore, the runners themselves have raised an additional Rs24 lakh. Donations have come in from the US, the UK, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.
The highest pledge raiser was ICICI’s V Vaidyanathan, who raised Rs9.6 lakh for Shankar Netralaya, Chennai. “I just sent a mail to my colleagues, and the money kept pouring in.’ Incidentally, the ICICI Bank team also topped the GiveIndia Corporate Challenge competition, raising Rs48 lakh for various charities.
United Way India’s mode of raising funds had been particularly inspiring. CEO Shibani Sachdeva, who collected the award for the second highest CC contribution, said, “It was a group of students from HR who did every thing right — from positioning to raising Rs9.4 lakh.”
The other awards given away included GiveIndia Dream Team award (male, female and couple categories); GiveIndia Pledges United for highest amount of money generated through pledges; NGO awards excluding CC contributions, with a minimum of 5 pledge raisers; and NGO awards for CC contributions with a minimum of 3 companies. Essar’s Manish Kedia, whose company contributed Rs4 lakh said, “The Marathon is no longer an event. It is assuming the proportions of a movement.”
The Dream Teamers Yana Gupta and Sanjeev Kapoor gave away the awards. A visibly thrilled Yana said, “This was my first time, and it’s just the beginning. There’s still so much to do. I am already excited about the next Marathon.” Sanjeev Kapoor, who ran for the second time, said, “When I ran the first time, I couldn’t even think of doing a 100 metres, let alone 7 km. But a few tips from my brothers abroad, and support from my wife made the dream run a reality. For me, the Marathon gives much more than it takes.”
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