Run marathon for many causes

Third edition of Veterun will beat on healthy lifestyle and contribute to social sector

The city will witness one event with many benefits on October 9. Veterun, a Pune-based marathon aimed at people above 35 years of age, will be organised at Lokseva School, Pashan Sus Road between 5:30 am and 9 am. The half marathon will have participants that will send out a strong message about healthy lifestyle and the proceeds of the event will be given for social causes.

Help Your NGO, one of the organisers of the event, is an organisation that vets non-profits in India to ensure that there is transparency in the donation sector i.e. money donated is received by charity/NGO. “Help Your NGO allows donors to be more efficient in their ‘giving’ by providing information on over 630 NGOs large and small, established and growing, located in urban India and rural India. Donors can search our database of NGOs for one that meets their requirements. They can shortlist NGOs by name, cause, location, tax-benefits and check out our ‘Recommended’ NGOs as well! This information is available on the website for everyone. We have raised 1.15 cr till now,” said Mandeep Kaur, a spokesperson for Help Your NGO.

According to Kaur, the organisation shortlists five causes each fortnight for donation. And their mission is to help NGOs and charities become transparent by making their financials available for review and analysis. “We help smaller NGOs have the same visibility as their larger sisters. We give donors the causes, articles and guides to help them take better decisions. ‘Your money always reaches where it is meant to reach’ is our mantra,” she said.

Pradeep Mahtani

Veterun is a unique initiative launched by Explore Adventures in sports events for veterans. The organisers claim to be a one-of-its-kind half marathon dedicated only to the veterans. The first edition of Veterun was held on October 5, 2014 in Pune and its star participant was 82-year-old woman who completed and won 10 kms. The second race was organised on October 25, 2015 and supported by MAFI (Master Athletics Federation of India).

“The objective behind the race is to promote healthy living amongst the majority population in India. Lifestyle related ailments, diseases, and posture induced sickness are common among people once they cross 35 years of age. Including walking, running or any form of exercise into the daily routine is the only way to overcome these threats,” said Pradeep Mahtani, the CEO of Help Your NGO.

Mahtani is a Chartered Accountant with over 23 years of experience in equity research and stock analysis. “We are a charity partner for Veterun Edition 3. We have selected five causes for the event — Magic Bus (childhood to livelihood), Swades Foundation (rural empowerment), Samavedena (essential healthcare to the underprivileged), Vanarai (environmental change at grassroots levels), Swayam Shikshan Prayog (women’s empowerment). We aim to raise Rs15 lakh for the charities,” he said.

Kaur said that fundraising is a unique exercise that most non-profits need help with. If we as a society can link events that we are passionate about with fundraising, it would be a win-win situation. Through Veterun we are raising money for not just big NGOs but smaller NGOs too

Giving details about the causes chosen for holding the veteran, Kaur said, “Magic Bus is driving change in 474 of India’s poorest villages and slum settlements. The programmes are primarily targeted to 8–17 year olds. They aim to give millions of children living in poverty the opportunity to control the way they view the world, the freedom to choose the role they will play in it, and the power to define their own destiny. The Swades Foundation operates with the single-minded focus of empowering rural India. At the Swades Foundation we believe that the partnership of rural India with corporates, young urban India, the Government and other foundations is the key to create a permanent and irreversible change for good.”

Samavedana works in treatment, prevention and awareness as Samavedana’s core arms to meet needs of the deprived. Samavedana pools contributions from the society, doctors waive off their fees and hospitals offer services at discounted rates for our beneficiary patients. Vanarai is working in more than 250 villages with the objective of making them self-reliant. The foundation insists on clean, green, self-reliant villages, afforestation, agriculture with modern methods, animal husbandry, latrine and biogas for every house, eradication of illiteracy, family planning and creating local employment opportunities.

Quarterpants, one of the organisers of the marathon, is a consulting firm based out of Mumbai that provides solutions to make social firms sustainable.

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Originally published on The Golden Sparrow