The power of humanity is a privilege, an ethical behaviour, a being human identity that each of us has within us, but demands a resilient push of intention and compassion to make it see the day of light. One such act of goodness was witnessed on Wednesday when golfers from across the world came out in support to make a difference in the lives of children with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD). The tee off of the worldwide virtual fundraiser golf tournament, was witnessed by legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, who was recently inducted as a board member of the Professional Golf Tour of India.
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Rotary Club of Delhi South (RCDS) through this first-ever 12-day hybrid international golf tournament invites golfers to participate in this unique event to raise funds and support the surgery of 50 kids suffering from CHD. The tournament concludes on April 25 during which golfers can select a golf course of their choice and submit scores online for the organizers to get the final tallies vetted by PwC before announcing the winners virtually on April 28. The tournament is open to all Rotarians and non-Rotarians across the country and neighbouring countries including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The tournament is conceptualized by Sports & Leisure Worldwide (SLW), the front runner in golf management with experience of marketing and managing virtual golf tournaments over the years.
Talking to reporters, Kapil said, “It is a privilege to lend my whole-hearted support to this noble initiative where Rotary Club of Delhi South seeks to fund the surgery of 50 kids who are suffering from CHD. I urge the golfers’ community to come together and help the club to achieve their target of giving the ‘Gift of Life’ to children with CHD from underprivileged homes.”
Approximately 300K children are born each year in India with CHD and close to 25% of these children require treatment in the first year of their life. The awareness about CHD is poor, the medical infrastructure available is skeletal and treatment is resource intensive. These reasons combined with life situations, make it impossible for underprivileged families to undertake much-needed treatment and they most often end up losing their children.
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Seeing the overwhelming response on Day 1 and to make an appeal to not just golf lovers, but all those who believe in the power of humanity to do good, RCDS president, Pradeep Kumar said, “Gift of Life is an international programme by Rotary, adopted by our club, to help children from underprivileged homes to fight the life-threatening heart defects that they are born with. Not getting the right treatment at the right time, most often results in untimely death or disabilities. This first of its kind, International Hybrid Golf Event, is the humble attempt by our club to get the good hearted individuals together to give the gift of life to these infants, while they get to play the best shot of their game.”
Along with Kapil, K.P Singh, a renowned name in the golfing arena, also joined hands with the club by teeing off from a golf course in Mussoorie. National and international golfers have also extended their support by agreeing to participate in this tournament and submit their scores to give the ‘Gift of Life’ while playing at their golf courses. The inauguration day recorded a donation of Rs 10 lakh and is hopeful of seeing the donation grow each day through this unique initiative.
