Forum Mall, Koramangala hosts The MAD India Back-a-Thon

Posted on Sep 9 2014 - 10:39pm by IBC News

Bangalore, 8th September 2014: Pushing child illiteracy backwards, literally, youth volunteers of non-profit child empowerment organisation Make A Difference (MAD) flagged off a ‘back-a-thon’ at the Forum Mall, Koramangala today to mark the occasion of World Literacy Day.

A back-a-thon, unlike the more popular marathon, is an event in which participants walk backward in a uniform fashion. More of a social gathering than a sporting event, the backward walk signifies an intent to push back deteriorating social values; which in this case is the growing level of illiteracy plaguing the country. As per latest government statistics, for every three children in a shelter home who manage to finish their 12th grade, there are 97 who drop out.

The event saw a large number of enthusiastic volunteers walking backward and shouting slogans to raise awareness for the cause. Like-minded shoppers and other consumers from the mall also joined the back-a-thon to show their support.

The MAD India Back-a-thon was definitely a unique event. Forum Mall is proud to have provided a platform to raise awareness for this social cause.

About MAD – Make A Difference empowers children living in orphanages and street

shelters to discover their true strengths and unleash their full potential.

Volunteer profiles range from Ed Support Teachers (who work with a class of ten children and teach English, Maths and Science), Propel Volunteers (who counsel and guide children for a right career), Discover Volunteers (who conduct activities to broaden the career horizons of children) to Fundraising interns (who raise funds to support education for children).

At present, across 23 cities in India, around 2000 volunteers reach out to 5000 children living in shelter homes.

MAD is the winner of the Ashoka Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition 2008, and was nominated as the best Medium Category NGO in the Indiya Shines initiative organized by GreatNonProfits.com in 2009. MAD is also a Noble Laureate of the Karamveer Puraskar awarded by ICongo and finds appreciation as a global fellow of YouthActionNet, Cordes Fellow 2010 and the winner of Dasra Peer Capital. MAD was further awarded the World Summit Youth Award last November and was named ‘Leader in Volunteer Engagement’ by iVolunteer.