CanSupport’s next ‘Walk for Life –Stride against Cancer’ event will be held on Sunday, 6th February 2011. Mark your calendar, now!!

Registration will begin in November 2010. If you need a reminder, please mail us at events@cansupport.org and we will keep you posted !!

WALK FOR LIFE - STRIDE AGAINST CANCER A CANSUPPORT INITIATIVE - FEBRUARY 7, 2010

This year again, on Sunday the 7th of February, people from all walks of life came together as one to support the fight against a disease that threatens almost every family in India today: cancer. We had 5000 participants join the ‘Walk for Life’ on a balmy Sunday morning.

As Harmala Gupta, Founder-President of CanSupport, stated in her welcome address, “It is a race against time. By 2030, the developing world is expected to bear 70% of the global cancer burden. Cancer control must become part of the public’s agenda for only then can we hope to make it part of the agenda of our leaders as well. The Walk for Life is a way of creating this public awareness.” 

The walk started from the Central Civil Services Sports Ground on Vinay Marg, near Ashok Hotel, and proceeded down Shantipath from where it wound its way back to Vinay Marg; a distance of 4 kms.

A few special features characterized this year’s Walk:

• A 4 km run over the same route as the Walk intended to drive home the message that healthy habits such as daily exercise can help fight cancer.
• A ‘Lap of Honour’ for cancer survivors to show that there is life after cancer and to express solidarity with those still battling the disease.
• While friends and family honoured the memory of loved ones lost to cancer by penning messages on the ‘Wall of Honour’, there was a special wall to display the drawings and messages of support from children participating in the Walk.
  
  

The walk was flagged off at 9 am by Smt. Gursharan Kaur, wife of the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh. She has been associated with the Walk since its inception and continues to patronize it. We were delighted to have the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Sheila Dikshit, also join us this time for the flagging off ceremony.

What makes this Walk stand out from others is the diversity of those who participate in it: they include politicians, diplomats, bureaucrats, corporate heads, doctors, and cancer survivors among others. This year, too, a number of Ambassadors and High Commissioners were present representing the USA, Great Britain, New Zealnd, Ireland, Belgium, Malta and Pakistan among others. Sharmila Tagore, “Tiger” Pataudi, Rahul Bose, Ritu Kumar and a host of Olympians also leant their celebrity status to the event . The ex-Ambassador of the USA, Mr. David Mulford and his wife Jeannie, a survivor of breast cancer who led the ‘Lap of Honour’, were also there to show their continued commitment to the Walk and the need to raise awareness so as to save lives.

­Despite the seriousness of the purpose, the excitement was electric that day as was the enthusiasm of the participants who came with family, with friends, as part of a group or with their pets. It was a fun filled morning as there were refreshments, clowns to entertain and plenty of prizes to be won for the largest groups and those who had raised the highest pledges. Sanjive Jain was the lucky winner of two return air tickets from Delhi to Europe courtesy Etihad Airways.

The main sponsors of the Walk this year were KPMG, the American Centre and the Max India Foundation.

We are grateful to all those who contributed to the Walk and walked with us that day.