5 K in 1H - Our Dream Run!

Dear Dreamers,
In true Dream A Dream style, it was an absolutely fantastic day of Running and Fun on Sunday. The weather was perfect, the children were bright, chirpy, and excited, and all of you were in your dream-a-dream best. :-)
Some of our favourite moments of the run included:
* Having a huge turnout of almost 80 children and more than 70 volunteers “Run for a Dream”. I think we were the largest contingent yesterday.
* Having some of the families of staff and volunteers also joining in the fun. Especially the little ones -– Malaika, Siddu, and Maansi who came dressed as Princess, Monk, and Krishna.
* Seven Care Champion Runners -– Krishna, Bhasker, Rohan, Shruti, Bharathi, Buvana, and Vishal each working very hard to raise Rs.1 lakh each.
* Three of the Care Champions crossed their Rs.1 lakh target.
* Having more volunteers than last year raising funds for us. We estimate that we might have raised Rs.8 lakh.
* Nike coming forward as a corporate partner, employees at Nike raising pledges for us and also sponsoring T-shirts for all of us.
* The most stunning 120-metre banner made by the volunteers and all the other costumes and placards that were beautifully done.
* Meeting all of you once again in such an energetic atmosphere was wonderful.
What after the 10K?
* Continue with the running spirit, it's good for your health.
* Close all your pledges/funds raised and bring them into the Dream A Dream office this week.
* Look out for information on the Mumbai Marathon in January 2010. If you liked B10K, you will love the Mumbai Marathon.
Thank you once again, Dreamers! You made it special for us and for the children!
Keep the dream alive!
The Dream Team
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If you want to see some pictures taken during the event, click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/rd.prabhu/DreamRunMay312009?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7niN2cnbjRCw#

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Once again, on behalf of Dream A Dream, Kishore (my mentee), and the many children who will benefit from your generous donations, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, too, for the numerous messages of support. I really appreciate it.

Cheers,

Ramesh

Partners in Dreams

I don't quite remember how many years ago it was that we first contacted Vishal to plan some activities for the EOTO children that year, during their October break. Two separate activities were planned, which were outings for the day with games and some life skills thrown in. We all had a blast and until today we have very clear memories of those two events.

Time moved on, and for some reason last year, we suddenly thought of Dream a Dream again and I got in touch with Vishal, who is ever open to meet and discuss. This time we entered into a longer collaboration and decided to be partners for the school year and handed over students of Std 8th, 9th and 10th from the Guru Harikrishan School to Dream a Dream to participate in the Creative Arts and Udaan Life Skills programme apart from occasional Fundays.

Once again it was a great decision we took! The students have had some wonderful fun days and have also learnt several Life Skills through the various sessions. We really appreciate the commitment of the team (especially Pavithra and Sonali) and undoubtedly we have decided to continue with our collaboration by increasing the number of students from EOTO this year, and thus continue to Dream along…

1. Make out a cheque to "Dream A Dream" and send it to Dream A Dream, 11/17, 3rd Cross, 1st Block, Near Ashoka Pillar, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 011.
2. If you prefer to make your donation online, you can go to this payment page set up by Dream A Dream: http://www.bangalorecares.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=70&name=dreamadreamDAD.
3. For pledges from abroad, you can use the DONATE link (set up by DaD marketing manager Sangitha K.) on the Dream A Dream blog www.dreamadreamcorner.blogspot.com. Funds will automatically be transferred to Dream A Dream

(Email the transaction id # after the donation process is completed so that we could do the tracking and the recording of your donations)

Dream a Dream is a great team and we are so happy to be a small part of their great endeavour.

Best Wishes

Sunita

Each One Teach One,

Bangalore

Why you should run for a Dream

‘I came to know about Dream A Dream from Sattva, an e-zine to which my friend contributed. It was at an opportune time as I was scouting for an NGO working on either children’s or women’s issues, to volunteer the truck load of free time I had during weekends. While browsing through the Dream A Dream webpage, I saw the following quote:

One hundred years from now,
It will not matter,
What kind of house I lived in,
How much I had in my bank,
Nor what my clothes looked like,
One hundred years from now, It will not matter,
What kind of school I attended,
What kind of typewriter I used,
How large or small my church
But the world may be A little better
Because I was important in the life of a child.
-Author unknown

These lines made the decision for me. In retrospect, I realize that these lines have changed my life in a way no other piece of poetry has!

While I salute those people who provide vulnerable children with the basic amenities, what Dream A Dream does for these children is a step ahead – empowering them to make their tomorrows better. I can do a lot of things to make these children’s “today” worth living and I can do a lot to make the world a better place, but their “tomorrow” will be what they make of it. The life-skills that Dream A Dream is successfully imparting will go a long way in making them capable of standing on their own feet a few years from now.

During the induction program, Namrata mentioned that each one of us is what we are because of the exposures that we have had. The knowledge that every hour I spent with these kids went towards giving them an improved exposure to this wonderful, but often harsh world, kept bringing me back to these children. In fact, I was able to observe kids like Lokesh and Nagaraj visibly improve their confidence levels in just a few weeks – this gave me a feeling of success that few other projects have given!!


My experience with Dream A Dream has made me much more patient and accommodating than I was earlier. It also enabled me to discover my creative juices :D To meet a bunch of people from different walks of life, all working for the same cause, was overwhelming and inspiring at the same time. The vision and goals of Dream A Dream has made me a believer of social enterprise and business for the benefit of society!

In the end, Dream A Dream has given me an exposure that has taught me lessons which few others have…. and the learning continues....

For Dream A Dream to continue its work on empowering more and more vulnerable children, it needs the support of every kind hearted individual in this society. So please, loosen your purse strings so that you can tighten a child's hold on her dreams......


1. Make out a cheque to "Dream A Dream" and send it to Dream A Dream, 11/17, 3rd Cross, 1st Block, Near Ashoka Pillar, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 011.
2. If you prefer to make your donation online, you can go to this payment page set up by Dream A Dream: http://www.bangalorecares.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=70&name=dreamadreamDAD.
3. For pledges from abroad, you can use the DONATE link (set up by DaD marketing manager Sangitha K.) on the Dream A Dream blog www.dreamadreamcorner.blogspot.com. Funds will automatically be transferred to Dream A Dream
(Email the transaction id # after the donation process is completed so that we could do the tracking and the recording of your donations)

Anitha Alappat, Volunteer, LearnIT