Let's keep the hope alive

I am participating in the Gate River Run in Jacksonville on March 12, 2011 to raise funds for the education of underprivileged children in India. I will be running the 9.3-mile (15-km) run for the first time in life. 

We, the Team Asha, genuinely believe that there is a need for socio-economic change in India and education is the right way to bring about this change. We do our best within our limitations to facilitate and support education of underprivileged kids in India. For some of these underprivileged kids, a single meal a day and a decent education is much more than having a good time. Its bliss!! Please read more about Asha's projects at http://www.ashanet.org/uflorida/index.html

http://www.ashanet.org/projects/chapter-view.php?a=85

We, the team members, were initiated with us pledging to raise at least 300$ from our run. As the phrase goes, charity begins at home. Every year my grandmother donates a certain sum in the memory of my grandfather. Back home, I, along with other Cummins batchmates and "Seva Sahayogis" helped school kids of Sri Saraswati Vidya Mandir with Maths and English. I was also a part of School Kit drive of Seva Sahayog.

At UF, I have volunteered on a gameday and wish to donate an hour's worth of my first salary to Asha, http://www.workanhour.com.

Asha is highly ranked (highest 4 stars) by Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator from US.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7630

I have witnessed the impact of every single penny in the lives of these children. To give you a better estimate,

15 – Covers food, boarding, and healthcare needs of a child for one month
$100 – Helps educate hundred rural pregnant women on infant health
$150 – Covers books, uniforms, meals, vocational training, counseling and medical costs of a child for 1 year
$200 – Higher Education for one student for one year
$500 – Can completely take care of a ten year old child until she graduates from high school 

Here is the link to my profile: 
http://www.ashanet.org/uflorida/TeamAshaRunnerProfile2011/Deepika.html

Donations are accepted in the form of cash, check or credit card (online). Make the check payable to 'Asha For Education' and send to the following address: 

Gators for Asha, 
300-9, J.Wayne Reitz Union, PO Box 118505, 
Gainesville, FL 32611-8505

Please select me as the runner when donating online or indicate my name in the memo field of the cheque.

If you can, please forward this email to your friends and colleagues.
For an amount > $20, sending a check will offset the 3% towards credit card service charges.

Help us to keep the hope of education alive in the kids we support.