Runners taking off at the start line
Asha-Jyothi (AJ), a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting education and healthcare for the underprivileged, hosted their first annual fundraiser event in Fairfax, VA on September 26th, 2009. Slightly overcast sky and chilly fall temperatures did not stop supporters and volunteers of AJ from making this event a huge success.
Asha-Jyothi was very successful in creating awareness, garnering support from corporations and local community. They had 20 corporate sponsors and about 600 registrants for the run, with quite a few registering on the race day. About 60 kids participated in the 1 mile fun run. Participants ranged from kids as young as 3 years old to 70 year olds. AJ raised about $15,000 from this event but more importantly they mobilized the community towards their cause.
Following the run, participants were greeted with energizing music, food, and refreshments. Kids had blast with activities like moon bounce, face painting and bollywood dancing. Thanks to generous sponsors, fabulous prizes (including Red Skins tickets, jewelry, gift cards, spa certificates)
Due to overwhelming interest from friends of Asha-Jyothi outside of Virginia, AJ team also coordinated group runs, with 150 people attending, in other cities like Houston, Charlotte, San Francisco, Dallas and Kansas City on the same day to show solidarity with the cause and VA team. Excited about this grassroots interest, Yamini Ganta, the race director, says “not just USA, we will be doing San Francisco to Sydney and everything in between next year”, a challenge that the team already seems to be ready for. The AJ team announced that they are tentatively planning the 2010 run on August 15th.
Talking about Asha-Jyothi, Sekhar Puli, director of AJ, said “We are a volunteer based organization with low overheads because of which we are able to pass on 100% of the donations to the beneficiaries”
Asha-Jyothi team thanks all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to make this happen without a hitch and applauds the generosity of their sponsors.
Men’s Overall Winner: Andrew Towne – 17 min 32 sec
Women Overall Winner: Peggy Cavuoto – 22 min 25 sec
Media Contact:Neelu Burugupalli
Email: AJMEDIA@ASHA-
For any other general enquiries, please contact us at contactus@asha-
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
