06.12.2024

The major running event of the Courage to be First Corporate Foundation and the leader among the races of Central Asia — Almaty Marathon — this year has attracted over 15,000 runners from 62 countries. Annually after each marathon, part of the funds from the entry fees are donated to charity. In 2024, participants and extra contributions from corporate clients made it possible to raise a record 79 million tenge, which is 10 million more than the year before.

 The Courage to be First Corporate Foundation is developing on an ongoing basis and, starting 2024, is implementing a new strategy aimed at scaling its charitable operations.

«All our events represent an inclusive environment, accessible to everyone, regardless of gender, age, physical abilities, running experience and other aspects. Over the past years, we have successfully helped more than 3,000 children get involved in sports. We are confident that sports are a powerful tool for health promotion and developing the nation as a whole. The new strategy focuses on creating systemic solutions to help dealing with the root causes of problems. This is a step towards deeper and sustainable transformation that can definitely change lives for the better», – commented Saltanat Kazybayeva, Executive Director of the Courage to be First Corporate Foundation.

 The organization’s first partner in the new concept was the AYALA Charity Foundation, which has been standing with children with special needs for years. In 17 years, it has become the only foundation specializing in neonatology in Kazakhstan, and it has lent support to 264 children’s healthcare and educational institutions in 67 cities and localities of the country.

In the coming year, the Courage to be First Foundation, along with the AYALA Foundation, will undertake two major projects totaling 106,241,284 tenge, aimed at lowering the level of infant disability in Shymkent and the Turkestan region — regions with the highest birth rates in Kazakhstan.

About 3,500 children are born every year in the country with congenital and hereditary diseases, and over 100 thousand children already have disabilities, which is twice the level of 2010. To cut the level of disability, it is essential to support innovative projects for the diagnosis of congenital defects. The «I Can See the World» and «One Day Clinic» projects support this stance. 79 million tenge collected during the Almaty Marathon will be marshalled to the implementation of the «One Day Clinic» project, and the remaining amount will be raised through other events.

The “One Day Clinic” project (79,541,284 tenge) will enable accurate diagnosis of abnormalities in fetal development, making it more accessible and effective. This is going to help reduce the level of innate disability by 40% in Turkestan region. The project follows European standards and involves installation of a microscope and special laboratory equipment to conduct studies using the FISH method in Regional Perinatal Center No. 2. Over 15 years, this equipment will help reach out to 30 thousand pregnant women in the region.

Within the framework of the «I Can See the World» project (26,700,000 tenge), the Foundation will install a retinal camera in the «City Perinatal Center» of Shymkent. This city is one of the three leaders in birth rate in Kazakhstan. Equipping with a retinal camera will allow neonatal ophthalmologists to promptly examine premature babies, make an accurate diagnosis and administer timely treatment to save them from irreversible loss of sight. Over 10-15 years of operation, the camera is planned to examine 24,000 children.

«We are grateful to the Courage to be First Foundation, the Almaty Marathon project and all participants of these major sports events for reinforcing our projects aimed at lowering innate disabilities in children in the Turkestan region. The equipment that we plan to transfer has systematic approach to addressing the problems. This is why successful results like preserved vision in premature babies and accurate diagnosis of intrauterine pathologies of fetal development can already be seen in the shortest possible time,» – emphasized Aidan Suleimenova, founder and president of the AYALA Charity Foundation.

The Courage to Be First Corporate Foundation has been holding up charity goals since its inception and over 12 years has introduced more than 30 charitable projects worth over 277 million tenge in Almaty and Almaty region. The funds collected unleash the Almaty Marathon mission – developing a healthy and active society, making sports accessible to everyone. As a result of their efforts, dozens of football fields, climbing walls, sports grounds and special equipment have been installed to facilitate development of sensorimotor integration, the motor system, as well as adaptation of children to social life. Last year, 8 institutions where over a thousand children live or study were provided by the organization with new equipment and sports grounds. You can read more about the organization’s earlier projects here.