VT Seva Dallas recently concluded its 12th annual cancer awareness walk/run. This year, we resumed our in-person walkathon, as in the previous two years we hosted virtual walkathons due to Covid. This event was successfully conceptualized and coordinated with the support of all our volunteers, youth, and adult. We had an amazing turnout of about 150 people, as enthusiastic crowds across Dallas flocked to the walkathon to show their support and were rewarded with a nice morning walk, while also getting educated about the various cancers and how to prevent them as a community.
We started off with our branch director's welcome note, Mr. Uttam Indukuri, who spoke about our past annual Dallas cancer walkathons, and our goal for this year's walkathon. Unlike our previous years where our main initiative for this event was for raising funds for cancer screening camps in India, this year's walkathon held the goal of raising $20,000. The proceeds from the 12th Annual Cancer Awareness Walk/Run will be used to empower rural women in multiple ways through purchasing machinery to manufacture sanitary napkins to raise awareness of personal hygiene among girls and women from rural areas. Along with that, the proceeds will also go to training rural women to get hired to work in manufacturing. These products are ensured to be environmentally friendly and will be distributed free of cost. This is an important cause because globally, 2.3 billion people lack basic sanitation services, which can lead to infections and Cancer.
We also had a couple of guest speakers, including our very own mayor from Frisco, Jeff Cheney, as well as Dr. Kiran Kancharla, an oncologist with a very informative speech about cancer awareness and prevention. We are so thankful for them coming out on a beautiful Saturday morning, and appreciating VT Seva Dallas’ efforts through the Cancer walkathon.
The day started off with yoga to stretch out before the walk, led by Mr. Sateesh Burgadda, which got everyone energized and ready for the main event. After the walkathon, which saw people of all ages participating, teams of volunteers presented and educated walkers about different types of cancers, through descriptive posters and presentations. We had prizes for our leaderboard in three different age groups, 10 and under, 11-15, 16-25, and the adults category respectively. Prizes were also given out based on the leaderboard at the end of the month-long competition leading up to the walkathon, where users would register and log their daily number of miles walked. The day concluded with activities including a quiz on VTSeva’s efforts, a lemon spoon game, and even fun face painting. VT Seva Dallas is thrilled by the immense support towards this noble cause and is grateful for the collaboration with the Dallas community.
