Australian athletes raise Rs4 lakh for charity

Australian athletes, who dominated the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, have raised Rs4 lakh for the poor and underprivileged children of the national capital.

The money will be donated to two NGOs -- Aasha and Katha -- that work for the poor children in Delhi.

Half of the donations will go to Asha, an organisation providing holistic care to a number of slum colonies across Delhi, while the rest will be given to Katha to support their efforts of educating slum children, a release from Australian high commission said.

"After such an enjoyable time in Delhi, the Australian athletes were keen to give something back," said Australian high commissioner Peter Verghese.

"We have worked with both Asha and Katha previously and know they do excellent work," he added.

Parvinder Kaur of Katha was delighted to learn about the donation. "It is so kind of the athletes to find time to collect this money in between their busy competition schedules," she said.

Kiran Martin, founder and director of Asha, also thanked the Australian team for the effort.