A Class XI girl has raised ₹49,872 so far, and a 20-year-old with intellectual disability has added ₹19,000 to a corpus that will create more opportunities for people with disabilities to earn a livelihood.
The 10th edition of Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata, partnered by The Telegraph, will bring together NGOs working in diverse segments, including education, health, disability, and protection against human trafficking, to individuals who care to make a difference in someone else’s life.
Sarah Tabish of Modern High School for Girls is one such individual. She has knocked door to door in her residential society to raise money for children with cancer, disability victims of child sexual abuse.
“There is a life beyond our own comfortable life, and many children are living that life. When I started volunteering three years back, I would feel uncomfortable and like an outsider, but that barrier is no longer there now,” said Sarah, 16.
Vikas Kumar, 20, with an intellectual disability, may struggle to find the right words when asked for a pasta recipe, but at his cafe in Dum Dum, all customers praise his pasta.
The social media page he uses to raise funds is ticking.
On the panel on Tuesday, which was discussing the work that NGOs and individuals are doing, when asked why he was raising funds, the young man responded, “Bhukhe nahi marenge (I will not die of hunger).
It is the need to give them a livelihood and help them transition to an adult life that led to the formation of Opportunity Cafe.
“It is for the first time that we will be participating here, and it will amplify the fact that people with disabilities can work like any other person, whether it is in the existing cafes or the upcoming ones they can employ people with intellectual disabilities without any mental block,” said Sidhant Ghosh, founder, Rescue & Relief Foundation, which runs the cafe and works with people with intellectual disabilities and survivors of trafficking.
For Sunday’s race, there will also be Jhelum Sarkar.
A cancer survivor who lost her sister also to cancer, she will run and raise funds for others with the disease. There will be two sisters with mental illnesses rehabilitated through art, dance and song, who will also participate.
The stories of courage and resilience embody the spirit of the marathon, said an organiser.
“These are the real heroes who embody the marathon spirit. These stories will inspire thousands more to participate, and that’s what the message of this platform is to inspire others who follow in their footsteps,” said Vivek Singh, joint managing director, Procam International, the organisers.
With the support of 43 NGOs, 26 individual fundraisers and 10 corporates, alongside thousands of donors, ₹32.12 lakh has been raised for charity so far from September.
Fundraising for this edition will continue till January 10.
Since 2014, the platform has raised about ₹4.7 crore.
“As the event’s philanthropic partner, we are humbled by the extraordinary support from corporates, social impact organisations, runners’ clubs and individual donors,” said Debashish Ray Choudhari, CEO, Impact360 Foundation, the philanthropy partner.
Urmi Basu, founder of New Light, which works with the rehabilitation of survivors of human trafficking and high-risk adolescent girls, for over two decades, said no work of change can begin in isolation and without engaging the community.
“Members of the community are our real eyes and ears. So when we think about social engagement, we have to inspire and move them in a way that they feel they have agency to create change. All of us chosen to work in the field of social work, we are kind of the privileged lot, and when we work for people who are more vulnerable and have less agency than us, we need to respect that, and the solutions need to come from them,” said Basu.