Sponsor Cesar's "Run for a dream" - a dream to make a difference

Very dear friends, family and passers-by

I am now officially training for the Philadelphia marathon on Nov 18th 2007 and committed to raise $2,600 for Lend-A-Hand India. I am turning to you asking you for your support in achieving my goal. Here's some information:

Like all marathons, this is of course a 26.2 miles / 42.2 km race. Based on my current running stride, this means I will be hitting the ground over 65,874 times during the marathon and many many times that number during the training months.

Now why would I be inflicting this torture on my legs, knees, feet, joints and expensive running shoes?

Well because I believe in giving back to others who have not had the luck I've had. Around the world, many people get by for a month on what we would spend on a single meal. At one point you have to stop and think that something must be done, and more important believe that something can be done. There are many ways of helping; mine was to choose a worthy organization doing an amazing job in one of the world's most populated countries: Lend-A-Hand India.

The money raised will go toward providing vocational training and career counseling to hundreds of deserving boys and girls from poor communities in India, generating employment opportunities for them and their families. Instead of giving them fish, teach them how to catch it (or better yet: farm-raise it!). Any amount helps, but to give you an idea of the costs of the program:

- $100 pays for the tuition fee of two boys / girls for a vocational training program
- $400 pays the one-year salary of a trainer at the school
- $1,500 pays to purchase a PC and internet facility for a high school
- $4,000 pays for one year of operating expenses to train a batch of students, including teachers' salaries, consumables, coordination, monitoring....

You can learn more about L-A-H I on this website: www.lend-a-hand-india.org.

If you're not yet convinced and ready to click on Donate, here are 5 additional reasons why you should support me :)
- You really want an iPhone but hesitate about falling in for the hype. Just donate that same amount of money and voila! no more anxiety or "to buy or not to buy" decision making...
- Your already have an iPhone and gladly show it off. Redeem your sins and sense of guilt by donating through the link below. You can keep donating until you feel totally guilt free
- You're flooded with viruses and spam. Well while I won't promise to make any parts of your body bigger, supporting us will definitely increase your feel good meter
- You're fed up reading about the "over-a-year-from-now" US 2008 presidential elections. You can instead track our programs' progress. Less stress, more pleasure!
- You had an amazing bonus this year, already bought a McMansion, an H3, an iPhone and an iPod. Great and congratulations for all the hard work. You're my new best friend now. Please click on the "Make a donation" link below and don't forget to enter a lot of zeros...

My goal is to raise $2,600 by September 15th. You can help by sponsoring me online through PayPal (click on the button below, no PayPal account required) or by check payable to "Lend-A-Hand India" on the address below. All the contributions made by you are tax-exempt and may be matched by your employer.

Click here for a selected list of companies that match donations.

Act now, places are limited and we will be selling out soon :))

And thank you so much for your support and $$$

C J K

For a contribution by check, please make the check payable to "Lend-A-Hand India" write "Sponsorship for Cesar Kastoun" in the memo and mail to:

Lend-A-Hand India
784 Columbus Avenue #10G
New York NY 10025, USA

Read about our volunteers' past experiences
Raj Gilda - New York Marathon (November 2006)
Pooja Gupta - Queens Half Marathon (May 2006)
Raj Gilda - New York Marathon (November 2005)
Timir Naik - Run for a Dream (October 2005)
Dina Deligiorgis - Queens Half Marathon (May 2005)
Raj Gilda - San Diego "Rock n Roll" Marathon (June 2004)
Raj Gilda - Paris Marathon (April 2003)