Reliance Foundation has contributed significantly to provide educational opportunities to young children.
Reliance Foundation
Reliance Foundation was started in 2010 to give a boost to the varied philanthropic initiatives of Reliance Industries. The foundation has touched the lives of more than 4 million people through its five core pillars that are Rural Transformation, Education, Health, Urban Renewal and Arts, Culture & Heritage.
Reliance Foundation in Education and Sports
Reliance Foundation strives to provide good educational opportunities to the vulnerable sections of society. It plays a lot of importance on sports for the overall development of an individual.
Mrs. Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation feels, “Education and sports play an important role in the development of a child and in nation-building. Sports is vital for the holistic development of young people and is important to channel the abundant energy of the children in a positive direction.”
Reliance has also launched varied programs for sports development.
Mumbai Indians match under Education for All program
The Education for All program focuses on quality education to positively impact the lives of thousands of underprivileged children. With its IPL team, Mumbai Indians, Reliance supports many NGOs and strives to spread happiness and awareness.
Under this program, Mumbai Indians lets several thousand children to have a life time experience of watching their favorite game of cricket. They get an opportunity to cheer for their favorite team from the stadium.
Reliance Foundation had done this last year as well. They took more than 18,000 underprivileged children from various NGOs in and around Maharashtra to Wankhede Stadium. The Mumbai Indians match held on 3rd May, 2014 thus became a leap forward in the history of sports in India. The event was supported by nearly 2000 volunteers from Reliance Industries.
Reliance Foundation said that the event was dedicated to enhance access and quality of education in India. It became a milestone gesture where the dreams of thousands of children to watch a live cricket match came true.
All necessary arrangements were made to make the kids’ experience pleasurable. The kids along with the NGO volunteers wore the same Mumbai Indians t-shirts and caps. 20,000 clappers, bags, bugles, whistles and wigs were distributed among the kids. Almost 1,00,000 food boxes were arranged for them throughout the day. 425 private and BEST buses were made to run to facilitate traveling of the kids in and around Maharashtra. The responsibility of security was well accomplished by Mumbai Police.
This initiative strives to connect the spirit of sports with the children which is a source for immense excitement and an inspiration for them to pursue their dreams.
ISL grassroots program
In a joint venture with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), ISL Clubs, 3 NGOs – Magic Bus, Slum Soccer and Yuwa, Reliance Foundation launched the ISL grassroots program. The program creates a platform for the development of grassroots football activity and talent-scouting across the country and aims to reach out to a million young footballers in the first few years and expose them to the best practices in global football.