First Lady Margaret Kenyatta today at State House Nairobi, received over Sh 163 million from local corporates in support of this year’s Beyond Zero Marathon slated for March 10.
Besides the cash donations from Beyond Zero’s traditional and new partners, sponsors and supporters, the First Lady also received additional support from Chinese Firm, Huawei Technologies, who presented 50 laptops to support healthcare delivery through the Medical Safaris.
Receiving the donations in an event that marked her first official engagement this year, the First Lady said the Beyond Zero healthcare initiatives, including the recently launched medical safaris, have had a huge impact on health delivery to vulnerable populations especially in hard to reach parts of the country.
“The impact on the ground is truly amazing. You can feel it and you can see it,” said First Lady Margaret Kenyatta as she thanked the 20 organizations for their support.
The First Lady said her current focus is on Obstetric Fistula, a condition she said continues to frustrate many poor women including the elderly.
All the Chief Executives Officers and team leaders of the 20 corporate donors affirmed their support for Beyond Zero’s healthcare initiatives especially on maternal and child health. They also pledged to mobilize their employees to take part in the forthcoming marathon.
The corporate donors included the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) whose team led by chief executive officer Jeremy Ikindu Nguze gave Sh 30 million and the Co-operative Bank of Kenya which gave Sh 20 million.
Kenya Commercial Bank’s CEO Joshua Oigara led his team in donating Sh 20 million.
MediaMax, Kass, Nation Group, Capital FM and the Standard group represented the media fraternity with their donations of Sh 25 million, Sh 20 million, Sh 10 million, Sh 12 million and Sh 5 million respectively.
Royal Media Services presented the First Lady with an Open Check.
The remaining financial support came from Magnate Ventures and Reelforge, a media monitoring Firm , who gave Sh 5 million each.
The Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) gave Sh 3 millon while Coca Cola Beverages, Africa and Parapet Cleaning group gave Sh 3 million and Sh 2 million respectively.
Other donors were the Philips Group who gave Sh 1.8, and Toyota Kenya Sh 1.5 million
The Beyond Zero Marathon will start and end at the Nyayo National stadium and is divided into several categories including the 21km half marathon, the 10 km road race, the 5km family race, wheelchair and tricycle races and a special 2km “pregna” walk for expectant mothers.
