Charities

One of the primary goals of the Rickshaw Run is to raise money for charities around the world. Our team is raising money for our charity of choice, S.O.S. Children’s Villages, and also the official Rickshaw Run charity, Cool Earth.

Everyone who donates at least $25 on our behalf also got to “adopt” a rubber ducky, which we gave to a child we met along the way!

 

S.O.S. Children’s Villages

S.O.S. Children’s Villages is the world’s largest charity that helps orphaned and underprivileged children, by establishing orphanages known as “villages” where children can be raised to their maximum potential.

Since its founding in 1949, S.O.S. Children’s Villages has expanded to 500 villages in 132 countries, including the United States. They are currently raising over 80,000 children in their villages and through many education, family strengthening, medical, and outreach programs, they impact the lives of over 1 million people each year.

Children who have been abandoned or orphaned come to SOS Children’s Villages where they are integrated into a loving family environment. They are nurtured and supported by an SOS Mother and up to 15 other children in their SOS home who become their SOS brothers and sisters. Strong bonds develop within these “SOS families”, and even after the children are grown and leave the village, these family relationships endure.

 

During the Mongol Rally in 2011, we raised over $8,000 for S.O.S. Children’s Villages (along with the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation), and also visited one of the villages in person — in Tbilisi, Georgia. In 2014, we raised $4,000 more dollars for S.O.S. Children’s Villages during the Mototaxi Junket We’ve decided to support S.O.S. Children’s Villages again because we have high regard for this great charity, and they have several orphanages in India, including one in our starting city, Bangalore.

Here’s a photo of our Mongol Rally Team at the Tbilisi SOS Children’s Village in 2011, along with lots of rubber duckies:

 

Here is a video about the S.O.S. Children’s Villages in India.

And here is a video about one S.O.S. Mother at the S.O.S. Children’s Village in Bangalore, India., who has raised 26 orphan children:

If possible, we are hoping to pay a visit to the Bangalore S.O.S. Children’s Village at the start of our journey, and hopefully earmark a substantial portion of the money we raise to go directly to villages in India.

Click here to donate to S.O.S. Children’s Villages, and “adopt” a rubber ducky!

 

 

Cool Earth

The official charity of The Rickshaw Run is Cool Earth, which helps protect endangered rainforest to combat global warming, protect ecosystems and provide sustainable jobs for local people. Cool Earth protects and secures rainforest under imminent threat of destruction, working with other NGOs. They put control of the rainforests in the hands of local communities to ensure that they benefit from keeping the forest standing.

While we have decided to focus our team’s fundraising efforts on SOS Children’s Villages, we encourage you to donate to Cool Earth as well! See the video below for more information.

Click here to donate to Cool Earth! (Email us if you donate to them, and we will let you adopt a rubber ducky as well. 🙂