Madras Round Table 1 to Organize ‘Chennai Runs’ Marathon to Raise Funds for Paediatric Cancer Care

Chennai, November 2022:  Madras Round Table 1 (MRT 1), India’s first Round Table engaged in community service and fund raising for over 65 years, is organizing Chennai Runs, a charity marathon, on December 11 in the city to raise funds for Treating Paediatric cancer in association with Mahesh Memorial Trust, an NGO dedicated to creating awareness, detection, and treatment of paediatric cancer. This Charity Marathon is supported by Ziess, an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of Optics and Optical Lenses, Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, one of India’s leading networks of eye hospitals, Vasanth & Co, Kalyan Jewellers, Kosh Luxury Resorts, KKN Energy, Apollo Healthcare, ID Fresh Food and Coca Cola India.

The first edition of Chennai Runs, to begin from Olcott Memorial High School Ground, Besant Nagar, will have 3 KM, 5 KM, 10 KM, and 21 KM categories open to the public, students, and corporate employees and the Champions with Disability also run. The participants will get a supreme quality event t-shirt, and a finisher medal. The runners taking part in the 5 KM, 10 KM and 21 KM timed-run categories will be given a timing chip, embedded in the race bib. Upon completion, they can obtain an e-timing certificate. The 3 KM category is a non-timed run. The public can register online at www.chennairuns.com till 25^th of November 2022.

Talking about the event, Dr. Ashvin Agarwal,Chairman, MRT1 said, “Cancer is a leading cause of death for children and adolescent’s world over. Every year, over 3 lakh children are diagnosed with cancer globally – of which nearly 50,000 cases occur in India.During this journey the affected people from Cancer will be given a platform to share their stories, struggles, and survival tactics to help inspire others to keep striving for better. All the donations and contributions raised through the event will go towards activities like raising awareness of Cancer, covering treatment costs, and conducting initial stage testing of potential Cancer targets. 

In his comments Mr. Chirag Gupta, MRT1 Fundraise Convenor said,” MRT1 believes in community service through the fellowship of its members. In light of our ambitions of making a difference in society through community service, we have consistently been raising funds over the past 65 years towards various charities and welfare institutions. This year, as part of our yearly gazette charity fundraiser we are joining hands with Mahesh Memorial Trust. The trust manages a paediatric oncology ward in partnership with the Cancer Institute at Adyar. We hope the funds raised will help the trust to step up their public awareness campaigns and treatment to cancer patients especially from economically poor backgrounds.

Our trust was established in the memory of Mahesh Mahadevan, respected composer and music director, who passed away in October 2002 after battling cancer for 13 years. In recent times, the efforts of the trust have been geared towards the building of the Mahesh Memorial Paediatric Oncology Centre at the Adyar Cancer Institute. The paediatric ward is a modern facility comprising a play area, dining room, general wards, and ICU, among others. The art, colours and interiors of the building have been incorporated with the children in mind, providing the tiny tots here a cheerful ambience for their treatment and recovery. However, with the rising number of cancer cases in children, and the surging prices of cancer care globally. MRT1 and MMT are coming together so as to reduce the burden on these underprivileged families to help save the child by funding their end to end treatment.

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