MUMBAI: NDTV, Coca-Cola and UN-Habitat once again came together with campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly to support the 6 hour telethon that went live across all channels on the NDTV network on 29 November.
The campaign, which was started in 2011 once again received an overwhelming response from people across different walks of life and generated over 20 Crores to support 400 schools. The target of revitalizing 1000 schools which the campaign set for 2017 was achieved in 1 day itself. The telethon saw the foundation being laid for the first school under the Support My School Campaign in Shillong. School dedications & celebrity visits were organized in other cities like Gwalior, Jaipur, and Pondicherry amongst others.
Hosts NDTV, Group CEO Vikram Chnadra, Coca Cola India, SW Asia, president, Venkatesh Kini and campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly took centre-stage to reach out to millions of viewers to generate maximum funds for the cause. Ranveer Singh extended his support to the campaign.
Delighted with the tremendous response received for the initiative NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra said, “This multi partner campaign has seen tremendous response from across the country and is growing at a rate which will soon help us reach our next goal. We would like to thank our viewers for the amazing support they have been extending and urge everyone to keep coming forward and help Sourav and NDTV Support My School.”
Speaking about the campaign Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia president Venkatesh Kini said, “Support My School has grown from being an initiative to a campaign that has more than 50 partners in 23 states across India impacting nearly 200,000 children in 600 schools. All of this has been possible with the support of our strategic partners and NGOs, who implemented it at the grass-root level and made the dream come true for many children.”
Campaign ambassador, Sourav Ganguly said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be associated with such a cause that not only impacts several lives but has a vision of building India’s future. We need more initiatives like Support My School, which has helped in holistic growth of children in many schools across the nation”
The day saw participation from policy makers like Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel Uttarakhand CM, Harish Rawat and Bollywood personalities like Raju Hirani, Sonali Bendre, Sports personalities like Sunil Gavaskar, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi along with renowned industrialists such as Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy HSBC chairperson Naina Lal Kidwai, JPMorgan Kalpana Morparia and more.
During the event Sourav Ganguly engaged with students and viewers during ‘Sourav ki Pathshala’, where he gave some valuable tips and demonstrated a few strokes. Budding cricketers from the Sehwag Sports Academy got tips from Dada himself. During the 6 hours event he repeatedly appealed for donations.
