Bengaluru Walkathon 2013 - Walk to Educate...

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” Nelson Mandela

Samarthanam believes strongly that it is Education alone which can change the fates and lives of persons with disabilities for good. It is Education that can transform them from being social parasites to tax payers and thereby equal contributors to the country’s economy. According to conservative estimates a minimum of 6% of the country’s population has some disability or the other. A whopping 40 million of them are children with disabilities of whom less than 10% have access to quality primary education. These numbers fall abysmally low in case of secondary and higher education.

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled has been supporting children and young adults to pursue education to the highest level of degree possible since the very beginning of its existence. Constructing a state of the art inclusive all accessible school at HSR Layout for children with disabilities and those from underserved backgrounds is an attempt to reiterate our commitment towards education. Through our various education and training programmes

• a total of 275 children continue to study in primary education   
• a total of 150 children continue their high school education
• a total of 200 young adults with disabilities receive support to continue higher education to the highest degree possible
• a total of 1000 young men and women undergo skill building and enhancement training which would lead to gainful employment.

Samarthanam Trust for the disabled invites one and all to participate in the 9^th annual Walk-a-thon event being organised on the 7^th December 2013 and strengthen our efforts towards ensuring quality education for the disabled and underserved communities and join us in the transforming lives and thereby communities.

Walk-a-thon is our attempt to bring together people from various walks of life on to one single platform and join hands to address a common issue. To make this even a success and achieve the objectives set forth by us we need all the possible support from one and all. This year we intend to ensure at least 15,000 individuals from all walks of life including corporate, educational institutions and celebrities participate in the event.

ABOUT THE WALKATHON:

The event will begin with inauguration, a cultural program and announcing the kick off of National Cricket tournament post which the walk-a-thon will be flagged off at Kittur Rani Chennama Stadium. Participants for the event can register under any of the following categories:

• School going students do not have to pay any registration fees
• College students will be charged a nominal registration fees of Rs. 100/- per participants
• Individual registrations paying Rs. 250/- per participants
• Corporate employees registration paying Rs. 500/-

Individuals registering as individual participants or corporate employees will receive a walk-a-thon cap and T-shirt. Individuals registering with Rs. 5000/- and above will receive a memento additionally. The Walk-a-thon will cover a distance of 3.5 kilometres in Jayanagar. Over the years, the event has been supported by various firms like Philips, Santa Fe, Thomson Rueters, TESCO, TATA ELXSI, HP, Titan, Britannia, AQUINA, 24/7, HAL, NICE, Infosys, Wipro, Upahara Darshini, Nilgiris, ADC, I -Gate, HGSL, Microsoft, Unisys, Target, T E Connectivity, PRTM, Amway, Cisco, etc.

APPEAL
Please encourage your employees, relatives, family and friends to actively participate in the Walk-a-thon 2013 and join us in transforming lives.

All contribution towards Walkathon should be drawn in favour of “Samarthanam Trust for the disabled”. We assure you of all appropriate benefits as mentioned above besides the good wishes from the residents and students Samarthanam and all those who would benefit as a result of this awareness drive. All contributions will be acknowledged publicly on the day of Walkathon.