Following the declaration of the end of the 4th wave of COVID-19 by the Lagos State Government, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative (SAMI) will on Saturday 12th February join thousands of Nigerians and foreigners to participate in the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon 2022.
This is after her non-participation in the Silver Label Marathon last year due to the pandemic. Under its #Run4AWarrior campaign theme, the health nonprofit seeks to raise funds for its various lifesaver projects and also increase awareness of the disorder in the community.
Noted for her huge impact on thousands of sickle cell warriors mostly from low-income homes, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative (SAMI) is riding on the public acceptance and wide participation of the marathon to passionately appeal to well-meaning individuals and business interests to donate towards its various projects and activities.
The projects which span physical, mental and psychosocial support have the singular vision to ensure ‘people living with sickle cell and their families are able to live healthy, positive, and productive lives’.
Although, the 10km race is a single day event, the organization reiterates that no life, especially with sickle cell, should stop. Thus, the #RunForAWarrior fundraising campaign is not a day event. It will be a month-long campaign starting on 10th February. This is to enable Nigerians from all walks of life to donate towards this fundraising initiative.
The NGN 2 million funding target will facilitate the organization’s plans to place more persons living with sickle cell on health insurance plan.
With the relief that ‘I will not pay out of pocket’, SAMI has discovered that the health of her beneficiaries on HMO plan has appreciably improved. This is because these people who will naturally have avoided hospital because of lack of money can now access quality healthcare when needed. The HMO plan has also ensured that the beneficiaries go for regular, prompt medical checks.
The non-profit pleads with well-meaning individuals and organizations to support the fundraising campaign by sending all donations via:
Online transfer – https://paystack.com/pay/xtracare
OR direct transfer to:
A/c name: SAMI 500BY1M CAMPAIGN
A/c no: 0208883097
Bank: GTB