On May 6th 2012, ‘Chinmaya Walkers’ team participated in the Project Bread’s ‘Walk for Hunger’ with over 300 walkers, 2 to 70 years, raising a total of $31,712 (2nd highest amongst the top fundraisers). Also, a member of this team, Akshay Vaishnaw, raised $8,540 (2nd highest individual fundraiser), beating their prior best, both at team and individual levels http://www.projectbread.org/site/PageServer?pagename=walk_main. The Chinmaya Walkers team represents the members of Chinmaya Mission Boston located at 1 Union Street, Andover, MA facility and associated friends and colleagues. Chinmaya Mission is a global, spiritual, organization which aims to teach individuals about the philosophical basis of Hinduism, and encourages them to make a positive contribution to society.

Walk for Hunger is an annual event started in 1969 during the Vietnam unrest. It is the oldest continual pledge walk in the country, and the largest annual one-day fundraiser to alleviate local hunger. This year there were 43,000 participants walking along a 20-mile walk route, raising over $3.6 million to help 700,000 people overwhelmingly children, sick and elderly.

The history of the Chinmaya team goes back to 2007, when Rathna and Shankar Reddy felt the need to reinforce the message of Seva with a broadly participatory community service activity. So, the team was born with just 6-8 friends walking together raising a couple of hundred dollars. In 2009, a Seva team was formed which has taken up a number of projects, including two annual charity walks - Walk for Hunger and Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development 5K Walk/Run, two local soup kitchens, an annual bone marrow drive and an Earth Day event. With team captain Rathna Reddy at the helm, the Chinmaya Walkers went well beyond their 2011 effort of 140 walkers and over $18,000 raised. Reddy commented, “We are very excited to bring Chinmaya families and friends together to help people in need in our local community. We believe it is the best way to live out core Hindu values such as unity and service to the disadvantaged”.

When asked about the secret to being one of the highest fundraising teams, Akshay Vaishnaw, team’s stellar fundraiser said “we combine an individual’s desire to give back to society with the core philosophy of Chinmaya Mission, which is service to the community”. Seva team is indebted to several dedicated members in the Mission who work hard to bring in more walkers and sponsorship. What always excites and stays with us are the memories of the children who participate, and particularly the younger ones whose determination to walk all 20 miles is a source of inspiration to everyone. This year, we had two 6-year olds, Sumedha Konduri & Rithikh Prakash who walked all 20 miles! One of our adult walkers who badly wanted to go back after 11.5 miles said ‘If these kids want to walk all 20 miles, I simply feel ashamed to go back, I have just got to finish’ and she did. Also, we had 4 Heart & Sole Kids fundraisers who raised more than $500 each for the cause.

You can learn more about Chinmaya Mission Boston at http://www.chinmaya-boston.com/, and the Seva team can be contacted at cmb-seva-team@googlegroups.com.

The Walk for Hunger is held on the first Sunday in May every year – Rain or Shine.

Join the history making team ‘Chinmaya Walkers’ for a Fun Walk with a Serious Cause.

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