CRY America launches new national campaign

NEW YORK: CRY America has launched the 'My Vision and Dream for Children' Campaign - an initiative aimed at bringing people across the US together from different walks of life to envision and work collectively towards a better world for children.

The four-month long campaign aims at creating a platform for people to engage in the larger debate on children's rights and express their vision and dream for children in creative ways. 

CRY, Child Rights and You America Inc. (CRY America) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that works towards ensuring the basic rights of underprivileged children - to live, learn, grow and play. Zee TV is the official media sponsor for this campaign.

The website specially created for this campaign america.cry.org/myvisionforchildren.org invites participants to express their dream for children in eight creative ways in an attempt to garner interest and motivate people to think and act for children's rights.  They are: paintings, poems, essays, songs, photographs, photo-essays, short films and statements/slogans.

"My Vision for children is essentially happy children," shared Aprajita Rathore, Management Consultant and CRY America Supporter. She continues, "I would like to see, one day, a world where there are no children that go hungry or go to bed crying, children are taken care of, have time to play, have time to enjoy their lives, develop, get educated. Participate in this campaign organized by CRY America and tell us about your dream and vision for children."

Entries can be uploaded online at www.america.cry.org/myvisionforchildren across 8 categories and in 3 age groups of juniors, teens and adults. On-ground contests will be held through local events organized by volunteer chapters across 12 cities in the US. The site also allows participants to set up their own page through which they can showcase their entries and invite friends to join in. 

 The campaign will run for 4 months and will culminate on October 15th, 2009. Winning entries will receive Certificates and be displayed in a booklet 'Expressions of Childhood' that will be released in November 2009.

Says Shefali Sunderlal, President, CRY America, "Illiteracy, child labor, malnutrition, preventable diseases, gender discrimination, child abuse are injustices faced by millions of children on a daily basis.

But not for long we hope. Because no matter how long or difficult the journey - if each one of us believes in doing what's right, then all children will have their right to live, learn, grow and play!

Participate in this campaign and strengthen CRY America's vision of a 'just' world in which all children - regardless of gender, class, caste, faith, color, race, physical and mental ability etc. - have  equal opportunities to develop to their full potential and realize their dreams."