Mumbai: The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai, and the Mumbai Chapter of the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) recently organized a 5K (5 km) run in honor of the Diplomatic Security Service’s 100th anniversary. The charity run was held on Saturday, October 1st on the beach outside the J W Marriott hotel in Juhu.
To help mark its 100th anniversary, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is sponsoring DSS Global Races for Charity at over 100 locations overseas and across the United States this year. While similar runs have taken place in other locations in the past, this is the first time that the run was organized in Mumbai. The proceeds from the Mumbai event will go to the Vatsalaya (Parental love) Foundation in Mumbai, a pioneer agency working with street children through a multilevel approach that includes outreach, child-to-child contact, contact centers and shelter home.
The charity run in Mumbai was led by U.S. Consul General Thomas Vajda and his family, who were joined by over 200 people representing the diplomatic community, law enforcement and many other groups. Speaking about the event, Consul General Vajda said “It is an honor to participate in an initiative dedicated to honor the men and women who work hard to keep us safe at all times. And it’s an extra bonus to help raise money for a great organization through donations raised at our event.”
The Diplomatic Security Foundation (DSF), founded in 1995, is a charitable non-profit organization to provide financial assistance to Diplomatic Security (U.S. Department of State) personnel as well as their foreign affairs/law enforcement counterparts both at home and abroad. DSF is specifically designed to provide monetary support to persons or families members of DS personnel, local guards and foreign police officers who lose their lives while performing duties associated with the protection of U.S. facilities and personnel abroad.
