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RUN FOR A WORTHY CAUSE
The Standard Chartered KL Marathon provides platform for runners to
donate to four worthy causes.
Kuala Lumpur, 17 April 2012 – The organisers of the Standard Chartered KL
Marathon 2012 is calling all runners to participate in ‘Run for a Cause’, a charity
programme that provides a platform for runners to raise much needed funds for a
charity of their choice. This year, the four participating charities in the
programme are The Standard Chartered Trust Fund (SCTF), The National Autism
Society Malaysia (NASOM), EcoKnights, and Malaysian National Animal Welfare
Foundation (MNAWF).
Runners that would like to take part in ‘Run for a
Cause’ must choose a charity to support and raise a minimum of RM500 in total
donations to have their entry fee waived. Runners are given the opportunity to
design a profile page on the Standard Chartered KL Marathon “Donating Runners”
website to spread the word about their involvement to friends, family members
and colleagues to help raise money.
“To date, we have raised RM 33,000.00 from 132 runners for ‘Run for a Cause’ and we are very proud and
humbled with the overwhelming support. This year, we hope that with added awareness
of the programme and of the charities, we can attract more runners to raise necessary
funds for these worthy causes. In the past three years, the Standard Chartered
KL Marathon has managed to raise almost RM1.4 million for charity. Through ‘Run
for a Cause’, we have taken a step forward by becoming a true community event by
helping the less fortunate across all ages and races,” says Rainer Biemans,
Director, Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd.
One of the returning charities for this year is The
Standard Chartered Trust Fund (SCTF). In 2011, runners and corporations raised over
RM150, 000 that was dispersed to various programmes such as the Standard
Chartered Paediatric AIDS Fund that collaborates with the Malaysian AIDS
Foundation to assist 150 HIV infected and affected children across Malaysia.
The bank’s staff worked together with the Malaysia National Council for the
Blind to produce 4000 units of Braille and Audio books for 160 visually
impaired schools and libraries across Malaysia, and special needs children at Pusat
Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Sri Eden received computer lab sponsorship equipped
with learning development programmes.
This year, funds raised for SCTF will go towards their
‘Seeing is Believing’ Mobile Eye Clinic. The focal point of this initiative is
to maximize eye care assistance and schedule vision screening visits in rural areas
for the deserving community such as senior citizens, needy families, welfare
homes and homes operated by NGOs. The aim is to set up the mobile eye clinic by
next year with an optometrist, ophthalmologists and equipment to screen for
cataracts, glaucoma and other eye diseases nationwide. The anticipated set- up
cost for the mobile eye clinic is RM500, 000.
Another returning charity is The National Autism
Society Malaysia (NASOM). In 2011, runners raised RM81, 064. The funds were
utilized for the set up of a centre offering intervention programmes to
children with autism in Kelantan. To date, there are 9 children in this centre,
and NASOM is now progressing with their collaboration with USM Kubang Kerian to
set up a facility that will allow more extensive services to be provided to the
children- access to auxiliary therapies such as speech and behaviour therapy.
This year, funds raised will be channelled to the
construction of a ‘School for Children with Autism’, a premier school for
autistic children which will offer alternative formal educational opportunities
for these children. Anticipated cost for the set up of the school is RM
10million. Additionally, for the first time, 21 children from NASOM,
accompanied by parents and teachers will be taking part in the Standard
Chartered KL Marathon Kids Dash 700M category.
Running with the NASOM children this year will be celebrity Bernie Chan,
and Capital FM Deejay Joanne Kam
EcoKnights, a foundation formed
in 2006 as part of a collective effort to provide environmental outreach
programmes for communities and industry players to advance the cause of
environmental issues. Recent projects include the 5th Anugerah Hijau nationwide competition that
encourages youths to use their creativity to assist in environmental
conservation and protection, and the UM Earth Week celebration which aims to
address urgent environmental issues among University Malaya students. This
year, running on behalf of EcoKnights is TV host Daphne Iking.
The Malaysian National Animal Welfare Foundation
(MNAWF) is a foundation that was established in April 1998 as the
national body aimed at promoting animal welfare in the country. Its’ mission is to promote a caring Malaysian
society through creating awareness and a balanced approach to animal welfare
for the well-being of animal and mankind.This year, funds raised will be channelled towards
developing and sustaining a public doggie school “Canine Sportz Club” (CSC)
which drives responsible pet ownership, and to promote and introduce Animal
Assisted Therapy (AAT) as a form of rehabilitation program designed to
encourage, motivate, and develop compassion for the special and orphaned
children in welfare homes. This year, running on behalf of MNAWF is TV host
Joanne D’ Rozario.
Corporations are also able to support the ‘Run for a
Cause’ initiative by participating in the Corporate Challenge category. Currently,
companies such as Shearn Delamore and Axiata Group will be competing in the race as a
team to give back to the community by donating to their selected charity
partners.
For more information or to register for ‘Run for a
Cause’, and the ‘Corporate Challenge’ please visit: www.kl-marathon.com. Also, connect with other runners through the
Standard Chartered KL Marathon Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/SCKLmarathon and keep up-to-date via twitter at www.twitter.com/scklmarathon
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