13th January, 2005: Come Sunday January 15, and People Group will participate in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon for the third consecutive year in a very unique way. The uniqueness is that for most participants, it is a day's run. But at People Group, it's just another day in a marathon 31 days of AIDS relief work, a collective effort of 300 employees.
Mr. Anupam Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, People Group, says, “AIDS has been a pandemic upon humanity that has already claimed lives of more than 23 million men, women and children worldwide. It deprives people of their dignity, families, society and livelihood. It is a devastating disease that affects human beings irrespective of their age, gender, race, religion and nationality. While there is presently no cure for the AIDS virus, People Group has taken the opportunity of the Mumbai Marathon to help prevent it through education, awareness and precautionary methods.”
The highlights of “The People Marathon” are as follows:
Tie-up with 3 organisations to promote AIDS awareness
As the first step, People Group has tied up with 3 leading organisations, doing extensive work in areas related to AIDS research, control, awareness and relief.
1. ARCON - AIDS Research & Control Centre is an autonomous body of the Govt of Maharashtra in collaboration with University of Texas, Houston.
2. MDACS - Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society was set up in July 1998 for implementing the National AIDS Control Program in Mumbai.
3. CCDT - Committed Communities Development Trust is registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act of 1950, and works with vulnerable communities.
The activities of MDACS will be promoted during the day of the marathon. In fact, 100 members of CCDT will run along with 300 from the People Group, making this one of the biggest contingents in the marathon running for the AIDS cause. During the whole of January, the employees of People Group will be raising resources for ARCON and CCDT.
Fund-raising... and fun
To kick-off the fund raising initiative, the People Group employees coined the term PAAR Fund (People Against AIDS Run Fund). The fund has several sources towards its corpus:
· Voluntary contributions – People are encouraged to donate any amounts ranging from Rs.1 to 1 day's salary. There are PAAR Fund donation boxes are various places in the office, where people can put in even small amounts such as loose change, proceeds from sale of old newspapers, etc. The amounts raised will go to ARCON and CCDT.
· Fun Fridays for a serious cause – On each of the 4 Fridays in January, groups of employees will organise lunch for the entire staff. The amount raised has been earmarked for ARCON.
· Sale of products – During January, People offices will also display and sell handicrafts and other articles sourced from CCDT and NGOs association with MDACS.
· Housie – A housie game too has been planned, the proceeds of which will add to the PAAR Fund.
One aspect of the People Group corporate mission is - “to elevate the collective efficiency, knowledge and joy of the world in general and our communities in particular.” People Group has always supported philanthropic activities in the past - last year during the Mumbai Marathon, People Group contributed Rs.10 lakhs towards the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for Tsunami Relief.
About People Group
People Group was founded by Anupam Mittal in 1997 and has consistently grown by over 100% each year since then. The group currently employs over 300 people and is headquartered in Mumbai. In addition to 5 regional offices in India, People Group also has operations in UAE, UK, and USA. People Group includes business like People Interactive, People Infocom, People Pictures, PEP Management and Kalkush Productions, and owns brands like Shaadi.com, Fropper.com, Shaadi Point and Mauj.
For further information, including interviews with Project Directors at ARCON, MDACS and CCDT, please contact:
Bhavana Ganu
Manager, Public Relations
People Interactive (I) Pvt. Ltd.
Mobile: 9821479597
Tel: 24952277
Fax: 24951177
Email: bhavanag@shaadi.com
Priya Jain
Perfect Relations
Mobile: 9821168527
Email – pjain@perfectrelations.com
