Vol 5, No.7 | July 2009       »www.vibha.org » info@vibha.org  

Mountain View, CA: On Sunday, June 28th 2009, running enthusiasts flocked to the picturesque trails at Shoreline Park in Mountain View to run a few miles for a million dreams. Apart from a love of running they also had one other thing in common – an allegiance to a great cause. They believe in ensuring that every underprivileged child should attain his/her right to education, health and opportunity. That is why they chose to be part of the Dream Mile 2009.

For the past 11 years, the Dream Mile has been Vibha’s (www.vibha.org) flagship event for increasing awareness about the plight of under-privileged children and raising funds to support projects in India and US.

It is a testament to the commitment of the volunteers of Vibha that the Dream Mile participation has doubled since 2007. With 940 registrants, the Dream Mile 2009 saw the largest turnout in the event’s history. In addition to participating, the runners and volunteers have also created pledge drives. This year the event has raised over $32000 in pledges alone. The money raised from this year’s event will help support over 2000 underprivileged children.

Vibha believes firmly in giving back to the local community. For the last 2 years, part of the proceeds from The Dream Mile has been funding programs run by My New Red Shoes. My New Red Shoes' mission is to empower homeless and very low-income youth to succeed in school by providing them with brand new clothing so that they may greet the school year with pride and by educating and rallying the youth community around the needs of homeless children.

“We feel this year has been the tipping point. In previous years we used to attract around 400 participants. There are a lot of races of similar size in the Bay area. This year we have been able to breakaway and get close to the 1000 participant mark. The fact that the volunteers who played key roles were all new to Vibha makes me believe that this is the start of something big” says Vikram Chandran, the Race Director of Dream Mile 2009 and a long time volunteer with Vibha.

“I think this was a well organized event. I ran the 5K and there wasn't much to think about from a navigation standpoint. Pretty simple, clearly marked and it was fun. The food was better than the bananas and bagels at most events that I've run including some regional marathons” says Mike who participated in The Dream Mile 2009.

An event like the Dream Mile does not happen without a committed group of people. Nearly 140 volunteers worked tirelessly on the day of the event to make it happen.

With an enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer base, The Dream Mile seems poised to make great strides in the years to come. The fact that all of this goes to help those who are truly in need, makes it even more special and important.

Children are keen observers. They want the principal and teachers to be the epitome of all that is good. Teachers are their heroes. If they do not see their teachers walk the talk, they will loose faith. So the teachers must embrace good values, merit, honesty and hard work, and must be seen as unbiased. – N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys.

Vibha partners with HOPE Foundation to support the education of over 290 underprivileged children at the Hope Foundation School, Tannery Road, Bangalore. The school provides quality education to these children from kindergarten to seventh grade and allows them to nurture their aspirations. Following completion of the seventh grade, the students from this school join other coveted public schools. The role of teachers at this school is critical, since these teachers reach out to homes of slum children to bring them to school. Such children, who otherwise may never go to a school, get an opportunity to learn from competent mentors and later become a part of mainstream government education programs.

The school provides a memorable experience to these children where the teachers provide them with the much wanted love and affection, which they otherwise miss while living in dire slum conditions. The teachers spend time with children at a personal level, enquiring about their needs and counseling them as needed.

Vibha has been supporting the Hope Foundation School since 2005 and has played a pivotal role in shaping up lives of over 1000 children by providing financial support to pay teachers’ salaries. The teachers at this school continuously attempt to create their own play-way methods of teaching which indicates their dedication and sincerity. Their open and friendly relations with the children and the problem solving attitude brings out the good results. For more pictures on this project, please click here.

Your feedback is important to us. Vibha welcomes any comments, suggestions or questions you may have about our projects, programs, products, monitoring etc. If you are particularly interested in a topic and would like to see Vibha showcase it please let us know.

Together, we can do much more!

Dream a Little! Do a Little!

Vibha 1030 E El Camino Real, #424 Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: 408-997-9992 | Fax: 775-593-1061

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Vibha is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization that seeks to restore; underprivileged children, their basic rights to food, shelter, health and education - in short, a future. All donations to Vibha are tax exempt in the US.