A photograph related Cause-a-thon held in Mumbai.
Mumbai, April 7, 2015: Every year, April is seen as the World Autism Awareness Month and to respect that, Khushi, A Pediatric therapy center located in Mumbai held Cause-a-thon a special 7-kilometer and 1-kilometre Marathon at Taj Lands End on 5th April as a part of their Autism Awareness Campaign.
Initiated by an NGO, Khushi Pediatric therapy centre started Cause-a-thon in 2013. Celebrities like Shaan, Nawaz Modi Singhania and NGO like Being Human has extended their support to the cause. Bank of India and Striders also came together to support this cause. Mrs India 2015, Priyanka Goyal conducted the warm up before the race for all runners while Shaan gave the flag off to the run and the yester year actress Anita Raj gave away the prizes.
Unlike earlier years, this year the kids with Autism and other children with special needs conducted the event. The kids had taken up the responsibility of escorting guests and conducted the event through compering and giving away medals to the winners and refreshments to all participants.
According to Khushi founder Reena Singh: Cause-a-thon is just about appreciating the strengths of kids with Autism while accepting their differences without being judgmental about Autism or any developmental disability. It is about sensitizing the society so that they accept Autism and become more aware about it.
Cause-a-thon, is a free event for special children. It had over 325 participants in 2013 and about 505 runners in 2014 and this year they had around 800 registrations. Khushi mainly work with children with Autism and other disorders occurring with autism, eg - Autism and Celebral Palsy, Autism and Mental Retardation etc.