NEW DELHI: The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, owned by Procam International, the pioneers of marathon events in India, raised Rs. 166 million in its October 2018 event in association with India Cares, its official philanthropy partner and as many as 91 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
It was a bumper 105% increase from the amount that was raised last year. Those funds had contributed towards the construction of 12 new classrooms, 10 current classrooms furnished, 350 women empowered to start earning, 1160 women empowered with self-defense training, an old age home for women constructed and 68 young adults trained in IIT and placed in companies.
In the last five years of the annual event, ADHM has been able to raise a whopping Rs. 671.6 million as the support for charitable causes has doubled during this period by the public and corporates alike.
The funds raised by the CSOs will focus on creating a positive impact for different sections of the society – children in homes and schools, youth skill development, environment protection and saving animals, special care for differently abled and health services.
For this edition, India Cares Foundation concentrated their efforts on providing support and guidance in communications and appeals to reach out to more people – this has shown results with 82% of funds coming from and through an individual asking another individual. 66 companies fielded 91 corporate cares teams and 195 individuals reached out and received contributions from 8,010 family members, friends and colleagues. Incidentally, many CSOs got the confidence to reach out to networks and individuals on their own and this has generated 61% of the total funds.
The remarkable feat by the top fundraising CSO Udayan Care, raising Rs 90.2 million, has set new records in crowd funding, not just for ADHM, but for marathons across the world. This amount would be in the top-5 Charities of the Boston Marathon in 2018 and it is also more than all the other 90 CSOs of this edition.
India Cares Foundation founder and chairperson Murray Culshaw states: “Delhi amazes us. When we think there is no more room to push, it stretches! Our emphasis on encouraging individuals to raise funds is now well established, with 82% of contributions this year coming from individuals and raised by individuals.”
Procam International co-founder and joint MD Vivek Singh said: “Sport remarkably pushes humans to unprecedented limits. It has the ability to inspire, birth incredible stories and bring out the gold in humanity. Rs. 166 million raised towards charity is a testimony to the effectiveness of ADHM as a platform and its potential to create an ever-lasting impact on society. Kudos to all the CSOs, individual fundraisers, corporates, runners and the team at India Cares for showcasing the true power of this platform. This has been a befitting closure to a glorious edition of ADHM.”
“The show is dedicated to those people who believes in the social cause, This night is just not a fundraising night, but rather the belief that people have come together to promote this noble cause. When someone receives an award, a big responsibility is bestowed on that person to be that path bearer in bringing about a substantial change for good in the society,” Union Minister of State Vijay Goel said.
When it comes to corporate support, Hero Motocorp led the pack with the highest contribution of Rs. 2.9 million. Amongst individuals from Indian corporates, Ravindra Singh from Kotak Mahindra Bank topped the list by being able to raise Rs. 100,000.
