In an effort to lend a helping hand for the destitute and critically-ailing patients, ‘Save a Rupee, Spread a Smile’ , a city-based NGO, has announced the third edition of its marathon, named ‘TrivandruN’, scheduled for January 9 next year. The marathon, sponsored by Qatar Airways, will be flagged off from Golf Club at Kowdiar at 5 am by the brand ambassador, actor Suresh Gopi.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, the co-ordinator of the event, Deepa Anantapadmanabhan, said that around 3,000-plus participants were expected this time.
“The thought of the marathon was started in a bid to collect money for helping the poor patients who are critically ill. Over the last two years, a good number of city residents have participated in the marathon. During the course of our service projects, we faced many difficulties owing to lack of awareness about social issues among many people which had a direct impact on fund-raising for such causes. This led to the concept of the marathon, TrivandruN, which is our annual charity run for awareness and to raise funds for various social issues,” she said.
TrivandruN-2016 will be held for the needy cancer patients of Regional Cancer Centre. There will be three different categories in the marathon:
10-km endurance run
Corporate relay run - 5 members from one organisation
2-km fun or family run Publicity
As part of the third edition, the NGO also organised street play and street painting at Shangumugham beach and Manaveeyam Veedhi a week ago to spread awareness about cancer.
Noted celebrities in various fields are also expected to participate in the event. There will also be a musical show of the fusion band ‘ Masala Coffee’ after the marathon at Golf Club.
‘Save a rupee, Spread a smile’ is a charitable society formed in 2012. In the first edition in 2014, they collected an amount of Rs 7.55 lakh which was handed over