Rotary Club raises funds for children with congenital heart defects

CEBU CITY - Triathletes in Cebu will get a chance to help the less-fortunate children in the First Rotary Corporate Triathlon set on June 11 in Mactan.

The event, organized by the Rotary Club of Cebu, hopes to raise funds for the "Gift of Life program", which funds the operation of poor children suffering from congenital heart defects.

"We started with the Gift of Life Program ten years ago and when we saw how the operations changed the life of the beneficiaries, we decided to continue to hold fundraising events. All the sponsorship and proceeds of the event will go to the Gift of Life program," said Rotary Club of Cebu president Bernard Sia.

Gift of Life chairman Edward Tanting said the group has 12 children scheduled for operation, which costs between P100,000-P700,000.

"The sport of triathlon will be a chance for the athletes to help the children. Aside from the athletes, we are also accepting sponsorships from individuals or companies," said Sia, who promised that proceeds from sponsors will go directly to the program.

The race is also organized by the Cornerstone Group, which is behind the 8080 triathlon. It will have the elite, age group, relay and corporate team of six divisions.

The top three racers in the men's and women's divisions of the elite class will receive cash prizes, while the winners in the other divisions will get gift checks.

Registration fee is P4,000 for the individual category, P8,000 for the relay division and P20,000 for the Corporate Challenge.

Organizers said they hope to attract 400 to 500 triathletes, so they can raise some P1.6 millionp2 million from registration fees alone.