CURE Foundation are organizing a world-class golf tournament, the 6th Biennial ‘Cancer Crusaders Invitation Cup’, as a fund raiser and awareness initiative, on February 1st and 2nd, 2020, at the Hyderabad Golf Club. This was announced by Tollywood diva Ms Pooja Hegde; Dr P. Vijay Anand Reddy, Founder, CURE Foundation & Director, Apollo Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad; Mr S. Prabhakar Reddy, Managing Director, SLN Terminus Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd.; Mr Suresh Reddy, Chairman, Pride Jaguar Land Rover; Capt. J. Vikramdev Rao, President, Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA); Mr Bhaskar Reddy, Captain, HGA; Mr K. Srikanth Rao, Hon. Secretary, HGA and Mr Manish Dayya, General Manager, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & HICC, Hyderabad, at a Press conference today at Hyderabad Golf Club.
A theme event, “Walk of life” will be hosted on the evening of February 2nd, 2020, involving celebs including Badminton World Champion PV Sindhu; Former All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand; Dr Sangita Reddy, Jt. Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group & President, FICCI; Dr Shashikala Reddy, Principal, OMC; Pooja Hegde, Actress Rashi Khanna; Former Mrs India, Shilpa Reddy; Divya Reddy, Designer and more. As part of which child cancer survivors, models and ace golfers, will walk on the ramp accompanying the celebs at a glittering fashion Show.
Speaking on the occasion Pooja Hegde said, being associated with a noble cause like this delights me. I appreciate Cure foundation for the amazing work and the yeoman service it is rendering in the crusade against the dreaded disease. I am an advocate of love, love is the strongest emotion out there and any act out of love can go a long way. Dr Vijay Anand Reddy is an epitome of that, I was just interacting with the cancer survivor kid, Priyanka and she was telling, uncle is very nice and kind, about Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, that’s the greatest testament to the work he is doing. I have grown up in a family of doctors, my best friends are doctors, I know the powerful impact a doctor can make in one’s life, especially my grandmother is a cancer survivor and the role of doctors in she recovering is enormous. The real life heroes and heroines are doctors, because they have the ability to save someone, they are playing god. My appeal to people out there to donate liberally, we should inculcate the habit of donating, also often we don’t know how and whom to donate. Organisations like Cure know how to use the resources optimally to save lives. Lots of Cancer children can be treated as kids are resilient, but most parents of such patients can’t afford expensive cancer treatment and are unable to save their lives. I would like to donate Rs 2.5 lakhs for sponsoring treatment of two children. Even my Manager has come forward to donate a lakh of rupees to the cause. Cure is doing a fabulous job and we need to support them through donations. This Cancer Crusaders Invitation Cup has been a great support to Cure Foundation, by raising funds for the treatment of children.
According to Dr. Vijay Anand Reddy, through this event, we intend to raise money and spread cancer awareness in the society through extensive participation from ace golfers, outstanding sports persons, celebrity figures and opinion leaders. CURE Foundation was started in 2003 and through it could help more than 1300 patients till date, to get the State of the art Cancer Care to the needy patients, especially Children. Cancer Awareness Programs always helps and sports are one of the best ways to do so. Decade back we used to see 70% of patients in advanced stages, off late because of extensive Cancer Awareness programs like this, we are able to see 70% of them in early stages and bring solace to the patients. Especially cancer in children is highly curable if provided right treatment, just because their parents can’t afford, the children should not be denied the treatment. The Golfer community has been a huge support in helping these children avail good treatment. In fact several Golfers are in touch with Cure foundation on regular basis and support individual patients whenever the need arises.
Last Five Editions of ‘Cancer Crusaders Invitation Cup’
The first five editions of the Cancer Crusaders Invitation Cup organized biennially from 2010, were a runaway success. Former Indian cricket skipper Kapil Dev Nikhanj; Actor Nagarjuna; Star Tennis player Sania Mirza; Former All England Champion Pullela Gopichand; Cine Actresses Richa Gangopadhyay, Priyamani, Samantha; Tamannaah Bhatia, Ritika Mohan Singh, Catherine Tresa, Ms Hebah Patel, Ms Daksha; Smt. K. Kavitha, Ms D.K. Aruna, Ms. Katherine Dhanani, Smt. Tejdeep Kaur Menon; Dr Sangita Reddy, Ms Shobana Kamineni, Mrs Shilpa Reddy and more brought tremendous recognition to the tournament by participating along with the golf enthusiasts. This year too, around 250 Golfers are expected to participate in the tournament.