This is one event where we think we all can do so much without realizing what we just did. Think about it, by just being there what did you just do. Personally speaking, I did not see the live action but then at the end of the event there was a sense of achievement that hey, there's something I did today which a lot of people don't get to do everyday.

Associated with all the fun and frivolity, hidden behind the veils of smiles and laughter you did go leaps and bounds. You made a difference in at least a child's life, and you should be proud of what you did.

Now it's back to us. Where do WE GO from here ? We are here to spread awareness, to reach out to people like you, so that you can help us reach far and out. The Domino effect

We are blogging, Emailing, Social networking, creating web pages, making public appearances, organizing more events to get familiar. You can help us do just that, come up with ideas, kick your creativity, contribute to our pages, create your own page, and Come be a part of us.
We would really appreciate all your comments and thoughts :)

"Walk for Child Rights 2008" Bay Area kickoff!

Disclaimer: We hold ourselves fully responsible for the high levels of motivation and passion that we will display through this blog :)

~ The introduction ~

Greets to you, the reader. Before delving into the details of the CRY Bay Area chapter's walk run 08, let's get the introduction out of the way. CRY (Child Rights and You) is a non-profit organization (http://www.cry.org) that was founded in India in 1979 and it has touched the lives of millions of children by fighting for their constitutional rights, providing them education and most importantly, amplifying the voice of children who are the pillars of India's future. CRY America (http://www.cryamerica.org) was founded in 2002 and it has spread its wings across 11 different cities in the United States. CRY Bay Area (http://www.crybayarea.org) was founded in 2004 and I (the writer) am a core group volunteer of the Bay Area chapter.

~ What is Walk for Child Rights? ~
CRY America holds its flagship fundraiser event - "Walk for Child Rights" ever year, to raise funds and spread awareness about child rights and education at a National level across 11 cities. CRY Bay Area (http://www.crybayarea.org) has kicked off the event this year by holding its annual walk event past Sunday, June 15 at the picturesque Shoreline Park in Mountain View, California. The idea is simple: We invite walkers and runners who believe in cause to register and participate in the walk/run event and as one big family, we show our desire to give back to the community, indulge in a healthy activity and help raise funds through registration fees and donations.

~ The CRY Bay Area Chapter! ~

We, volunteers of the CRY Bay Area chapter, are truly passionate and motivated about CRY's cause and we consider volunteering for CRY our duty and not just self-satisfaction. As our founder Rippan Kappur said, "What I can do, I must do!" and we pour our hearts into what we do to champion the cause!

~ The CRY Bay Area Walk for Child Rights 08 event ~

The Bay Area Walk event was held on June 15, 2008 at the Shoreline Park in Mountain View. It was an exciting day with over 400 people attending the event. Our congratulations to the winners of the 10km run, 5km run, 5km walk and 3km walk events! We had around 40 winners (male and female) from each age group and so many walkers/runners thanked us for a well-marked course and ample water supply along the way!

Lots of children also participated in the special kids activities that we organized and their screams of joy and fun made our day! We had a sack race, three-legged race, lime-in-a-spoon race and relay race for three age groups (under 7, under 10 and under 12). We also had face painting and balloons which kids really enjoyed!

Onto the raffle event! Some uber-cool raffle gifts were given away - an iPod Touch, a dating package, jewelry, a multi-purpose printer, dinner packages and so on! Pretty neat, right? :)

Father's day celebration! - we raffled away two pairs of tickets to a baseball game at the legendary Giants stadium to acknowledge Father's day and also took pictures of Father-child teams to upload onto our website in the near future!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who supported this event, specially to our volunteers who gave of their time, skills and resources to make this event a tremendous success!