The convener of Arise Walk for Life, Dr. Siju Iloyomade, has said that the primary goal of organizing the annual event was for the health benefits of all participants.
She stated this during a briefing in Lagos, that this year’s Arise Charity Walk would be happening in clusters across different countries of the world, including Nigeria (Lagos), Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Singapore, etcetera.
This event, taking place October 16, with the theme #IChooseLife, will begin by 7am local time in all participating countries. Participants are to register their clusters on the Arise Walk website.
Iloyomade emphasised the critical need to keep fit especially as countries continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that walking helps improve immunity and physical health, adding that participants in this year’s walk stand a chance of winning up to $2,000 for the best cluster.
According to her: “Nigeria is blessed with a pleasant weather, what we do normally as lifestyle became a saving grace for us while the pandemic ravaged other countries, hence we need to continuously exercise to keep body and spirit in tune. At ARISE, we take health very seriously because you need to be in sound health to do anything tangible. The Arise Walk for Life, #ichooselife is a place for everyone irrespective of status, tribe, religion or nationality, it is a place for all.”
Iloyomade also stated that Arise is an ideology and in a short span of time, making giant strides in areas of health, women and community empowerment with focus on 12 pillars out of United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
She added: “As COVID-19 crisis has caused significant disruptions to many homes, The Arise Pink Bucket which contains food items has helped to reduce economic hardship on low income families in the different villages spread across all states in Nigeria that Arise have visited and completed projects from across the 12 pillars selected from the 17 United Nations SDGs.
She thanked sponsors, partners, and volunteers for their generosity, dedication and commitment to this cause and urge participants of the Walk for life, #ICHOOSELIFE to create awareness for regular physical exercise and proper health check and particularly take the Covid-19 vaccines to curb the menace of the virus.
ARISE is a humanitarian and charitable organization, which has been a great support system for women, their family and community by delivering care to the most vulnerable in the society through their mobile clinics – Arise hospitals,as well as donation of boreholes, medical reliefs and schools to mention a few.