Bengaluru:  May 29th 2011 marked an important day for Mumbai as Mumbaikars joined World Food Programme (WFP) and its major corporate partner TNT, in a walk to raise awareness and money to feed hungry school children in some of the poorest countries in the world.

On Sunday morning, the walk started from Hotel Ramada at Juhu tara Road proceeded towards Amitabh Bachchan’s Bungalow – Pratiksha and back. It witnessed people from all age group. Actor Shiv Pandit and Ms. Mihoko Tamamura, WFP India Representative and Country Director participated in the walk. Like before, Radio City continued to be the Official Radio Partner for this event.

“End Hunger: Walk the World” – an annual event now in its ninth year – saw people walking for hunger in 70 countries. The walk is a 24-hour relay with participants in each of the world’s time zones walking five kilometres. It begins in Auckland, New Zealand and finishes in Samoa.

“Hunger continues to be the greatest threat to health worldwide, killing a child every six seconds. We at TNT believe that it is our duty to fight hunger, a menace that threatens the basic of human existence”, said Mr. Abhik Mitra, Managing Director, TNT India

“Walk the World is an excellent example of how global partnerships can make a huge impact in the fight against hunger and it was indeed heartening to see a huge turnout today. This has reaffirmed our belief that we are not alone in our pursuit of rooting out undernutrition from India. It is our privilege to work with our private sector partner TNT along with the government and we stand committed to reaching out to vulnerable communities who need most help,” said Mihoko Tamamura, WFP India Representative and Country Director.

“End Hunger – Walk the World”, provides a powerful demonstration of public support for WFP’s fight against hunger, with employees from the three supporting companies walking together with friends and family, as well as celebrities, local dignitaries, and WFP employees. In some countries, children who have benefited from the WFP school feeding programme will also walk in solidarity.

“End Hunger: Walk the World” evolved from an initiative of TNT employees in Asia in 2003. Over the past nine years, the event mobilized approximately 1 million participants and raised funds to feed over 100,000 children in school for one year.