Exercise for a cause

The Rotaractors of five clubs of RID 3240 led by RAC Greater Tezpur — RACs Manali, Indirapuram Pariwar, Silchar and Dimapur — are promoting the ‘Steps for a Cause’ initiative of Impact, a fitness App that keeps tracks of the steps walked or jogged and the distance covered. Sponsors linked with the App company contribute ₹5 for every km walked or jogged by the user. The user has to download the App on his mobile phone or fitness tracking device and the App measures the steps and distance. The user can direct the money earned from his or her exercise for any cause such as feeding the hungry, education, environment care etc. The money will be contributed by corporate sponsors.

“We have promoted the cause to 110 people until September and it has helped raise ₹25,000, and we are still counting. We want to reach out to more fitness enthusiasts to use the App and raise at least ₹1 lakh by the end of this Rotary year,” says Rupanjali Devi, president, RAC Greater Tezpur. The clubs are promoting the initiative through their programme called Rota-Greater-Run. “We even inspired our counterparts in Turkey and Australia, and Rotaractors in these two countries are walking and jogging maximum distances everyday to keep the funds-clock ticking,” she adds.

The Rotaractors of RAC Greater Tezpur have set up a mini library and equipped it with books at the Naba Prabhat Ashram, an orphanage in Sonitpur district and distributed stationery kits to children in another orphanage. During Covid lockdown and until August, the club members donated cooked food to street dwellers and to 15 people in an old age home.

Recently, the club members distributed neon jackets to 40 traffic personnel which will alert motorists of their presence on the roads during night and avoid accidents. “This activity was widely publicised in the media,” smiles Rupanjali.