26 May 2016
Hyderabad
Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) with support from Inorbit Mall, is actively bringing awareness and aid to athletes with disabilities. The founder Aditya Mehta himself is an avid para-athlete with several achievements to his credit. Celebs and Tollywood stars Shilpa Reddy & Regina Cassandra joined Aditya Mehta, in felicitating & donating Rs. 4.5 lakhs to Anand Kumar - world ranking no.1 in men’s doubles, Manoj Sarkar - world ranking no.2 in both singles & doubles; Mark Dharmai - world ranking 10th & Girish Sharma - world ranking 16th due to participate in the forthcoming Irish International para badminton; Rs 2.75 lakhs to BSF athlete, Kaigoulal for an artificial limb and 30 other disabled persons with donations in various forms on behalf of Aditya Mehta Foundation, at an event organised by AMF & supported by Inorbit Mall on Thursday at Inorbit Mall. AMF proposes to take this initiative forward and continue to solicit, provide help and support the less fortunate and continue to inspire them into heroes.
Aditya Mehta Foundation is supported by Inorbit Mall to organize this event and also in generating funds for the Para-athletes. The foundation was started in the year 2013 with the vision to help the athletes with disabilities. In a society where disability is still a stigma, AMF aims to turn them into achievers and heroes of our nation.
Aditya decided that the best way to lead was through example. Being a champion Para-Cyclist himself, he initiated the INFINITY RIDE, the third edition of which was held in August (12-2015). This INFINITY RIDE also serves as a Fund Raising Activity for the AMF. Also Aditya has tirelessly counselled those who have recently been disabled and helped them cope with the depression that generally follows. These counselling sessions were conducted for the disabled in various central police forces too. Within three months, AMF managed to counsel more than 500 jawans from BSF, CRPF and ITBP who met with accidents while serving the nation, and motivated more than 200 of them to take up sports.
Arayavardhan a 10-year-old boy is a classic example. This child lost his leg in an accident and lives with his single mother. He entered into a bout of depression after the incident and refused to even talk or meet with people. When his mother heard of Aditya, she implored him to counsel her son. After meeting Aditya, Aryavardhan started gaining his confidence. He was also awarded a specialized limb by Aditya so that he can pursue his sport of cricket. His education is also taken care by AMF and he is granted a new lease of life. The number of lives that AMF has touched are innumerable. But it started with helping just 3 para-athletes on 25/10/2014 with donation of limbs and equipment. On 27/4/2015 AMF helped 5 para-athletes with wheelchair, limbs and sports equipments.
On September 29th, 2015 AMF has donated 3 Wheelchairs, 2 Cycles & 3 Artificial Limbs for above & below the knee Amputees, 1 Caliper for 95% Disabled from right leg, 5 Tandem Cycles for visually impaired and 2 International Travel Tickets. So far AMF has supported 21 para-athletes with 25 equipments. In the past AMF helped 13 PWDs with 15 donations.
This time, SOCH (Social Organization for Community Health) has come forward to join hands with AMF in extending support to the disabled. It is a non-governmental organization started in 1998 to promote understanding of issues related to health, gender equity through awareness and capacity building initiatives. Soch is going to donate 3 cycles combined worth Rs.1.2 lakhs for 3 girls affected by HIV, Rs.5 lakhs for orthotics. orthotics is the primary medical responsiblity for the prescription, manufacture and management of orthoses. It is more expensive and difficult to maintain the artificial limbs, sockets and wheelchairs. AMF takes up the responsibility of this too.
