World Thalassemia Day: Children Walk The Ramp For A Cause

Miss and Master Laureates, a charity program was organized by Rotarian Mridula Khatri in association with Little Tags. The event for a cause showcased a fashion show in the Capital that had children from 3 to 17 years walking the ramp to support the Foundation Against Thalassemia and Raktdaan App.

Thalassemia, is a disorder which is inherited (i.e., passed from parents to children through genes) blood disorder caused when the body doesn’t make enough of a protein called haemoglobin, an important part of red blood cells. May 8 is celebrated as World Thalassemia Day globally.

The purpose of the event was to make people aware about this deadly disease that takes away young innocent lives of children because usually the parents are not aware of it. The effort was also made to convey the importance of getting the Thalassemia blood Test done before marriage and after pregnancy. There was also a special walk by kids with their grandparents.

“We tried to give a platform of inclusion to the Thalassaemic kids, where they walked, performed and won the prizes like normal kids. The money collected from here will be used to test and help children suffering from Thalassemia.”, Mridula Khatri, President, Rotary Club Delhi, Panchshilla Park, shared with GW.

Speaking on the initiative of Rakhtdaan app, Khatri informed, “These days, hospitals don’t accept stored blood and look for LIVE blood donors. This results in wastage of blood. To lower this wastage, we have developed a mobile application called ‘Raktdaan’. It is a digital blood bank that shows LIVE blood donors who can be contacted directly if the required blood group matches with the donor. It is free and available pan-India on iOS and android platforms.”

There were several cultural performances including a patriotic dance act by Dance Out of Poverty, an initiative to give free dance education to talented underprivileged children and make them proficient enough to make a living out of their passion.

Foundation against Thalassemia is working tremendously for the welfare of thalassemia children. Foundation provides all the services to Thalassemia children free of charge whether medicine, blood transfusion, trips or any other needs.

“I am contributing to Foundation Against Thalassaemia and have done many small-scale shows for them. We have promised the blood test of 5000 kids suffering from Thalassemia and happy to share we are receiving good response towards the cause”, Khatri added.