Child Relief and You America Inc. (CRY) held a fundraising event – WALK 2005 for child rights – for the first time in Southern California on Sunday, Octobr 2, in Santa Monica.
Organizers said Santa Monica was chosen as the site of the first event because its residents are known to be “socially aware.”
The 78 participants gathered in Crescent Bay Park and walked down Ocean Front Walk. Children were entertained at a craft booth while their parents took part in the walk.
CRY America’s goal is to secure the right of children all over the world to have a childhood.
Similar marches will be held in six other cities around the country later this year.
Archana S. Rajan, co-lead of the CRY Southern California Chapter, said, “All children should be guaranteed their basic rights. And the responsibility lies with all of us to ensure this happens.”
The CRY Southern California Chapter was founded last year and now has over 40 volunteers, ranging from working professionals to students. CRY America, a 501c3 registered non-profit organization in the USA, believes that every child is entitled to basic rights of survival, protection, development and participation.
In the last two years, CRY America has collaborated on more than 15 projects across India and America. It works closely with CRY, a child rights NGO in India, that, in its 26 years, has developed highly effective systems of selecting, planning, monitoring, and evaluating such interventions.
Half of the children in India between the ages of 6-18 years do not go to school and suffer from chronic malnutrition, and 17 million Indian children are laborers.For more information about CRY America and for volunteering opportunities, log onto its website www.america.cry.org, or www.crysocal.org, or write to cryamerica.socal@crymail.org.
