New Delhi, Oct 21, 2024: The third edition of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon has raised 10 million meals for children and animals.
The event concluded on Sunday with record participation from over 36,000 runners to support the cause of #RunForZeroHunger. Vedanta through its social impact arm, The Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF), pledged to provide one meal for every kilometer run, resulting in raising 10 million meals, this year. The meals raised have doubled compared to the meals raised last year through Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon.
In the previous two editions, the contribution of the runners led to the provision of 7 million meals to the children of Nand Ghar, AAF’s flagship Women & Child Development project, which constitutes a network of modern, state-of-the-art Anganwadis. Anil Agarwal Foundation has distributed almost 7.2 million multi-millet bars, so far, at Anganwadis including Nand Ghars, resulting in a significant reduction of 15% in Severely Acute Malnourished cases and 12% in Moderately Acute Malnourished cases, within a concentrated group of Nand Ghars.
In this edition, AAF extended its commitment beyond nourishing children to include animals, recognizing the interconnected health of people, animals, and the environment under the ‘One Health’ approach. This ‘Meals for All’ initiative will benefit animals through AAF’s animal welfare project, The Animal Care Organization (TACO), in addition to children across nearly 6,500 Nand Ghars, operating in 14 states across India.
The races were flagged off by Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director, Vedanta and Chairperson, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, in the presence of Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Captain of the Indian National Football Team, along with other dignitaries.
Hebbar, who also participated in the 10K run, remarked, “Today, we witnessed an extraordinary display of determination and unity as people across the globe came together, not just for fitness, but for a cause that resonates with us all. I am glad to have run and am humbled to contribute to the larger dream of combating malnourishment. With every kilometer run, all marathoners added to the number of meals that will be provided for nourishing children and for feeding animals. I am confident that we have created history by raising 10 million meals, this year. Together we have run for zero hunger."
Valarie Allman, the current Paris Olympics 2024 Discus Throw Gold Medallist from the United States of America & the International Event Ambassador of VDHM 2024, inspired the runners at the marathon. Many celebrities and influencers including Milind Soman, RJ Naved, Gul Panag, and various Delhi-based cyclist, fitness and runners’ clubs lent their support to the cause of #RunForZeroHunger.
Leading up to VDHM race day, another 36,000 members from the Vedanta community, including leadership, CXOs, employees and business partners participated in activities, to raise meals pledged by Vedanta. While some ran in Delhi, others participated in mini marathons and walkathons held across Vedanta’s 19 business locations, as well as via the StepSetGo app.
A Finisher’s medal was awarded to the runners. The medal is crafted from the purest and highest-grade zinc sourced from Zawar Mines in Udaipur — the world’s largest and oldest mines in the heritage state of Rajasthan. The Zinc is produced by Hindustan Zinc Limited, India’s leading zinc producer and a Vedanta Group company.
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