FREMONT: In a symbolic gesture of support for the village children who have to walk about five kilometers to the nearest high school, more than 200 participants joined in the Small Steps Foundation’s 5K/10K Walk fundraiser held on May 5 at Coyote Hills Regional Park, Fremont.
SSF (Small Steps Foundation) is a non-profit public benefit volunteer corporation registered with the Secretary of State of California in Nov 2006, it was founded by Tanuja and Akhil Aggarwal. Its primary mission is to support projects targeted at formal and informal education for underprivileged children in India. Small Steps Foundation also aims to bring awareness to the state of primary education in India, promote social responsibility among the fortunate and privileged individuals.
The annual walk is one of the two major fundraisers held by this organization, the other being the Diwali Dandia celebration. The walk was supported by local businesses ranging from professional services like accountants and dentists to children’s extracurricular activity providers. This year the youth and new volunteers also participated in fundraising and surprised everybody with their fundraising efforts. The highest fundraisers were Reena Goyal, Deepali Syed and Chhavi Vijay. Youth volunteers who participated in fundraising were Himani, Shankaran and Ankita.
On the day of the walk, the core SSF volunteers came early at 8 am to set up a festive meeting point near the Coyote Hills Visitor Center. There was some concern due to a rainy forecast, but the weather stayed warm, with lacey clouds shading the marshy vista, providing some spectacular views and amazing bird watching opportunities. Groups of other participants came with friends and family to enjoy the spring day. SSF has traditionally promoted family oriented events, and this was no exception as many grandparents accompanied the kids on the gentle 5 K route.
Manoj Joshi led a short yoga session for the walkers. Organizers of the event also held several games for the children including water balloon toss and spoon and marble race.
The delicious lunch was sponsored by Chaat Bhavan. The enjoyable event also included an introduction to the Board of executives by SSF Secretary, Anu Bansal and a short presentation by the SSF President, Reena Goyal.
Ritu Maheshwari
India Post News Service
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