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22 Feb 2017

Rupa Kothari Felicitated by Mumbai Police for Work with Safe Kids Foundation

Rupa Kothari being felicitated

Unveiling of Cartoon Book

Rupa Kothari, Managing Trustee of Safe Kids Foundation (SKF) was recently felicitated by the Mumbai Traffic Police and Road Safety Academy, Ahmedabad for the organisation’s most recent initiative‘Let’s Sketch for Road Safety’ on the occasion of the 28th Road Safety Week programme. She was specially congratulated for recently creating a cartoon book for spreading awareness of road safety amongst school children and citizens. Rupa is the wife of Sanjay Nanalal Kothari.

During the project, Safe Kids Foundation engaged with 18 children from The East Bombay Bharat Scouts and Guides District Association who prepared cartoon sketches along with relevant captions highlighting different road safety messages. The children had interactive sessions with an artist, Shri. Manish Rangnekar, who introduced them to various aspects of sketching, preparing a basic layout and a final composition highlighting their messages.

The sketches were compiled into an interesting book with messages of appreciation from Hon. Shri, VallabhbhaiKakadiya, Minister of State Transport (Independent Charge) Gujarat, Shri. DattaPadsalgikar, Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Shri Milind Bharambe, Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic, Mumbai, Dr. P S. Pasricha, Former Director General of Police, Maharashtra and other dignitaries.

The ‘Let’s Sketch for Road Safety’ cartoon book was unveiled in the presence of Shri. Milind Bharambe, Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic, Mumbai, Mr. Pravin Gedam, Transport Commissioner, Maharashtra, Mr R.K. Padmanabhan, Additional Director General of Police, Maharashtra and others in January this year.

Rupa Kothari, Managing Trustee of Safe Kids Foundation said, “Through this project, I believe that we have engaged children creatively, taught them elements of a new skill and helped create interesting ways to communicate road safety messages to others.”

The book also won widespread appreciation, including a congratulatory message from the renowned veteran Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan. (Click here to view letter)

Safe Kids Foundation was founded by late Shri. Mahendra Mehta in 2006. Rupa Kothari has been Managing Trustee since its inception. The organization is dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injuries, which is the leading cause of death and disability of children globally. The goal of the organization is to prevent unintentional injuries to children by bringing about changes in attitudes, behavior, practices and environment. All programs of the Foundation are based on the four pillars of Awareness, Education, Advocacy and Research.

“Safe Kids Walk This Way”, a pedestrian safety programme sponsored by FedEx, was launched in 2007 to teach safe behavior to parents and child pedestrians and to create safer and more walkable communities.

More recently, in 2015, “Safe Kids at Home”, sponsored by Honeywell India, was launched in Pune. The programme aims to create safer homes and protect children from the risk of fire and burns and other common accidental injuries.

From 2007 through 2016, SKF reached out to more than 4,000 schools and nearly 4.7 million children in four cities, viz. Mumbai Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune to create awareness for these issues. This was done through a mix of educational programs, events, activities and engaging initiatives.