Fundraising Event
Participants: Anahita Gupta, Lavanya Gupta.
67.5 kilometers: that's the distance my sister and I together ran over a period of six days, within the confines of our apartment, covering our set track over and over again. This was our Quarantine Ultra- Marathon, our campaign to raise funds for Goonj, an NGO working relentlessly to support our country's migrant workers.
The idea of this campaign was planted in our minds when we came across the news about the tragic condition faced by migrant workers. Reading about them stranded without food, shelter and money, miles and miles away from home shook us to the core. The covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown has caused pain, but the pain has not been distributed equally. For us, the challenge was more like tackling boredom and mourning our missed trip to Disneyland. While for lakhs of our country's migrant workers, it meant an impossible journey home with no jobs, no money and no public transportation.
My sister and I, are grateful today for the privileges we enjoy and we felt it was our duty to reach out to those in need. Simply collecting funds to help seemed too passive. So we decided to run an Ultra-Marathon targeting a distance of at least 50km over six days, within our apartment, as we were not allowed to step out at the time. We used the Nike Run app to mark our running track. On those six days, we would start our runs every evening and go on to endless repetitions on the set track. The Quarantine Ultra-Marathon was tiring and exhausting, but my sister and I persevered, extending our support to our fellow brothers and sisters. Our efforts helped raise a total of 1.61 lakhs towards our cause. The funds we raised might not be much, but i have learnt that it is the small drops that make an ocean.
Covid-19, an unwelcome guest, has been an invaluable teacher. It has taught me to be eternally thankful and made me realise that the greatest joy comes from helping and supporting others.
Our Story-
-Anahita Gupta
