NGO collects ₹1.6cr to pay tribute to colleague

Over the last 15 days ahead of the Mumbai Marathon, volunteers of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care have collected around

Over the last 15 days ahead of the Mumbai Marathon, volunteers of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care have collected around ₹1.6 crore as a tribute to their colleague Dhaval Mehta, 47, former co-ordinator of the NGO, who died last month.

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Last year, the NGO had raised ₹5.75 crore towards the construction of a 250-bed, multi-speciality hospital for the less privileged in Gujarat and bagged the award for collecting the highest amount of funds for the ninth consecutive year during the marathon.

On December 3, 2019, Mehta lost his life in a car accident while on his way to Dharampur. “Dhaval had decided that we would try to be the highest contributor in this year’s run as well. One day before his death, we had 47 corporates on board, but he made some calls and got 50 corporates to contribute,” said Dr Bijal Mehta, eye surgeon and trustee of the NGO. Bijal said he had coined the theme for this year’s event – ‘Be the light’ – and the idea was to bring marginalised people from around Dharampur in Gujarat to be a part of the 2020 run.