Source Name: RBL Bank

RBL Bank’s 1000 km Cyclothon Raises Over 23 Lakhs For Children Suffering from Retinoblastoma (Eye Cancer)

Nov 24, 2014   19:00 PM 
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

India’s fastest growing scheduled commercial bank RBL Bank (also known as Ratnakar Bank) becomes the first and only corporate in the country to support children suffering from eye cancer under a CSR program. The bank’s recent CSR initiative, a Mumbai to Bangalore 1000 km Cyclothon, raised over Rs. 23 lakhs for the treatment of children suffering from Retinoblastoma (eye cancer). For this initiative, RBL Bank has partnered with Iksha Foundation, the only NGO in the country working on this cause.

 

About 200 RBL Bank employees actively participated in the cyclothon and spread awareness about the eye cancer in children. A significant number of employees also donated towards this cause. Apart from employees, RBL Bank customers too joined in this cause to show their solidarity. As a result, a lot of doors have opened up for Iksha Foundation. The children are being treated at the Narayana Nethralaya hospital in Bangalore.

 

The Cyclothon that started in Mumbai and crossed Pune, Belgaum and Kolhapur concluding last Sunday at Bangalore was a huge success. The proceedings of this Cyclothon were directed to Iksha Foundation that is one of RBL Bank’s NGO partners. This RBL Bank supported initiative was spearheaded by Mr. Jasmeet Singh Gandhi, a cycling enthusiast and a corporate professional who whole heartedly embraced this cause through this 1000 km cycling journey from Mumbai to Bangalore.

 

Retinoblastoma (Eye cancer) is a life threatening disease that affects children in every 20,000. It grows from the retina as is touted as a silent tumor. In early stages of the disease, the eye looks normal externally but as the cancer progresses, there appears a white mass within the eye. Every day four children are born with eye cancer in India.  The average cost of treatment for a child with both eyes affected by retinoblastoma is about 1 lakh a year. The child has to be treated till the age of 12. This CSR initiative by the bank aimed to bring light into the lives of the country’s future generation. This initiated created a lot of awareness about this cause.

 

Commenting on this initiative, Ms. Shanta Vallury Gandhi, Head - Corporate Affairs, Organizational Effectiveness & Special Initiatives, RBL Bank, said “The fact that we have been able do to so much in a short span of time to brighten the lives of children suffering from Eye Cancer is a very fulfilling experience.  RBL bank successfully raised over Rs. 23 lakhs for this cause. This initiative has been a great success thanks to our supporters like Jasmeet Singh Gandhi, film actress Tamannah Bhatia and Member of Parliament Mr. Prabhakar Kore, our partners Gooqi, Rediff.com and Hero cycles and moreover all RBL employees and customers who whole heartedly supported this initiative.

 

Supporting this initiative film actress Tamannah Bhatia said “I was very happy to learn about this cause from Shanta Vallury Gandhi because in today’s day and age not many people take time out from ones busy schedule to support a cause that is unheard off. This is a great initiative by RBL Bank to spread awareness about Retinoblastoma - a fatal form of cancer. My very best wishes to the RBL Bank Team and I will be happy to support and be a part of many such initiatives in the future. It has been a great pleasure being here.”

 

About RBL Bank (Ratnakar Bank):

RBL Bank is one of India’s fastest growing scheduled commercial banks with an expanding pan India presence, of over 180 branches / 350 ATMs spread across 13 states. The Bank has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Global Growth Company, 2014 and has been awarded India’s Best Bank (Growth) in the mid-sized bank segment by Business Today-KPMG in two consecutive years, FY12 and FY13.

 

Established in 1943, RBL Bank undertook a transformational journey under a new management team in 2010. It embarked on an aggressive growth plan based on a robust platform of professional governance, relationships, technology infrastructure, high quality capital and geographic expansion. Today, RBL Bank offers specialized services under five business verticals namely: Corporate & Institutional Banking, Commercial Banking, Retail Banking, Agri & Development Banking and Financial Markets. The Bank currently serves more than 700,000 customers and has a total business size of over Rs. 20,000 Cr. Over the last three years, some of the most notable global and domestic names have infused capital of over Rs. 1,500 Cr., taking TIER 1 capital to Rs. 2,000 Cr. (approx). For more information, please visit www.rblbank.com

 

About Iksha Foundation:

Iksha a registered public charitable trust focuses on Retinoblastoma (Eye Cancer) – to create awareness, to provide aid for its treatment and to support research to improve care of children with Retinoblastoma.

 

Irfan’s family like most of the Indian families belonging to the lower socio-economic strata of the society was devastated to learn about their child’s medical problem. The child suffered from “Eye Cancer” and the family was not in a position to pay for the high medical costs. This is where help dawned upon them when a Samaritan assisted them with financial aid for the treatment. Thus, this was the point of conception for Iksha Foundation which was formed to support several such children and families afflicted with eye cancer. For more information, please visit http://ikshafoundation.org/

 

Media Contact(s): 

Shwetha Thomas

RBL Bank

T: +91 22-43020546| M: +91 9821287390

E: shwetha.thomas@rblbank.com

 

Anand K. Lalwani

REPUTE

Public Affairs & CSR Solutions

T: +91 22 2605 9019 | M: +91 8108345508

E: anand.lalwani@reputesolutions.com