The participants at the walkathon.

USA based non-profit organisation Assam Foundation of North America (AFNA) organised a walkathon at Plainsboro Township in New Jersey, USA.

The AFNA hosted the event to support Assam’s Akshar Foundation’s Green School Initiative that accepts plastic waste as school fees.

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The Mayor of Plainsboro, New Jersey supported the cause, AFNA said in an emailed statement.

The cold and windy Sunday morning couldn’t get any warmer as many participants including senior citizens, school students and children spread their joy and enthusiasm, making the event a great success.

Held at the Morris Davison Park, the Walkathon kicked off at 10:30am with participants walking 5 kms around the park.

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The walkathon came to an end with networking among the participants followed by healthy yet sumptuous breakfast for all the participants and some local performances.

The historic walkathon was conceptualised by AFNA, which encourages and facilitates organizational and individual efforts to further mutual understanding and cooperation between Assam and North America.

It was organised to support Akshar Foundation’s unique initiative of accepting school fees of “at least 25 plastic materials a week”.

Akshar Foundation is an Assam based NGO that recently made headlines globally for the innovative policy of “Plastic as School Fees”, wherein students are required to submit household plastic to the school recycling centre on a weekly basis.

“This was the first walk-a-thon sponsored by AFNA in New Jersey. The fund raised and the turn out from young volunteers to senior most citizens of Assamese communities supersede all our expectations and made us energized enough to repeat next year in much larger scale,” Niren Choudhury, spokesperson, AFNA, said.

“We are in debt to core volunteers like Manoranjan Bordoloi, Sagarika Dutta Bhuyan, Bidisha Hazarika, Jahnabi Barman, Reza Taher, Pallav Saikia, Lipika Deka and all youth and adult volunteers from Bridgewater and nearby areas,” he said.