Walk for Life

42 Kms, 15 Hrs, 40 Students.. One Message "Need Blood Call 1062" Walk for Life was an awareness drive conducted by the Sankalp Volunteers to bring to the citizens of Bangalore "CTC Disha" the single point access Blood Helpline!" Somewhere in Mid October we realized that inspite of the great media coverage, there was very poor response to CTC Disha. Very few calls were coming and many people were still searching for blood. Brainstorming within the core group indicated that the boring newspaper report on some inauguration that took place somewhere is not interesting for people. They just skip over it. So something should be done that is so large an effort that people take notice. We ended up planning "Walk For Life". Sankalp Volunteers thought that they will walk the roads of Bangalore not for 1, nor 2 but for 15 whole hours. A thing unheard of. Sankalp decided that 42 kms of Bangalore roads will be walked to take the message across to people. 11th November 2006 was decided as the big day. Preparations were immense, The new Sankalp first year Volunteers worked tirelessly to prepare publicity material that was to be used. The seniors familiarized them to Sankalp work culture. Things rocked.. At the same time, the senior volunteers took up large email campaigns to take the message to maximum people. The day came. The walk started sharp at 6:30 AM. The eyes of the volunteers said it all. their voice only lowered close to the hospital. "Need Blood Call 1062". Each kilometer that these students walked, one must not forget that it was essentially youth who had taken up the challenge to do the unimaginable for the cause. The cause of life. All they were doing there on the road was trying to have this one number stored on your mobile, or find a place in your memory. So that , when you find someone who needs blood, you can be the life saver for them. You can guide them to the right place. Hundreds of people turned around and took notice. Thousands heard the voices. The number of calls increased. Media finally was largely disappointing. I guess for a city of over 10 million people, the news of 40 Students walking 42 kms for a cause for 15 hrs at one stretch was too insignificant to find some space. But then, we did our job. And we did it by the way we consider right. But, there was an impact. Our work paid. calls to CTC increased. More work remains. .. Look on for the invite that was sent , the route, the images and Volunteers sharing their heartfelt. Image Gallery