Riders to raise fund for kids’ health, sports

SHILLONG: A group of young bikers is touring different parts of the country to raise funds for holistic academies which are working for nutritional needs of children, besides making them active in different sports activities.
Madhav Arora and his group of riders reached Shillong on Saturday morning and interacted with the officials and children of Tyllilang Basketball Academy here. The journey is part of ‘Garlanding India 2.0’ initiative that started last December.
In 2014, Prof. Uday Damodaran of XLRI Jamshedpur had driven his Renault Duster car around the country to raise funds for 22 NGOs. He managed to collect about Rs 11 lakh through his initiative of ‘Garlanding India’.
Under Garlanding India 2.0, Arora and other young volunteers would ride motorbikes and cover four segments of the country — north, south, east and west.
The focus of Garlanding India 2.0 is on India’s children. For many of the kids from the underprivileged section, good training in sports, along with good nutrition and decent school education, Arora said.
Riders to…
(Contd from P-3) He futher added that it offers a ray of hope to break out of their condition. But sadly for many Indian children even this option is ruled out. India has a poor record on infant nutrition and health; 38 per cent of Indian children under the age of five are stunted and 21 per cent of them are severely wasted; for these kids, sports is never an option .
The bikers have targeted to raise funds worth Rs 2 crore for children’s health, nutrition and sports.
The group completed Southern Spin in December 2017, which was flagged off in IIM Bangalore. They have also started Eastern Essay on March 7, which was flagged off in IIM Calcutta where the riders were being sponsored by India bulls.
Initially, there were five riders but one had to leave due to personal reasons. “Apart from raising funds, we are also trying to popularise sports,” Arora said.