Running with Asha
Asha for Education is a volunteer run organization aiming to catalyze socio-economic change in India through education. The objectives of the group are:
- To provide access to education for underprivileged children in India
- To promote universal education and decrease child labor
- To support grass roots initiatives in deprived and marginalized communities in India
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environmental and socio-economic issues, women's issues, human rights issues, etc.
As a part of Team Asha this runner has committed to meet the above objectives through your support. Please read the runner's personal statement below and use the donate button on the right to make a contribution to the runner's objective.
Why run a marathon?
Hari: I started running four years back to help lose weight. In the process I got “hooked” to running and decided to train for a marathon. The White Rock Marathon in 2009 will be my 6th marathon but my first with Team Asha. I ran with some Asha members as a part of the Dallas Running Club training program and decided to combine efforts to raise money for their great cause- Train, Run, Educate.
Nirisha: With Hari’s constant nudging, I finally decided to give running a try last year. I really enjoy running as a part of a group and am excited to be a part of Team Asha as I run my first half marathon.
Why Asha?
i) The Children - Asha’s mission is to catalyze socio-economic change in India through education of underprivileged children. Please follow this link to get a good understanding of “Asha For Education”.
ii) Asha is a volunteer run organization with an almost zero overhead cost which means all your money goes directly to the children (ranked number one “slam dunk charity” by Charity Navigator).
iii) 100% non-religious
This is just one of many project that Asha supports. Please see this list of Asha projects - you can always find one that is near and dear to your heart. We also encourage you to visit the children at these schools on your next trip to India, and see the impact of your help.
How can you help:
Our goal is to raise at least $1500 before December 13, 2009. Please donate as much as you can to this worthy cause. You can choose to donate to a specific Asha project of your choice or let Asha decide how to allocate the funds. ANY AMOUNT IS APPRECIATED. Your $$ will go a long way in helping educate under-priviledged children in India.
Tax deductions:
Contributions to Asha are 100% tax deductible in the US (under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code), and 50% tax deductible in India (under section 80G of the Income tax act).
Note: Asha’s marathon fund-raising program is not like some other programs where part of your donation goes towards the runner’s air ticket to some exotic place like Hawaii/Jamaica for the marathon. We run in local marathons, with a zero-overhead cost.
