Blue Band Margarine And Special Olympics Pakistan Join Hands For A More Inclusive Society

Blue Band launched its campaign ‘Achai Barhnay Do’ this year with the aim to create a more inclusive environment for kids all over Pakistan. Blue Band is Pakistan’s leading spreads brand enjoyed all over Pakistan for over 25 years. It is a daily source of essential fats and vitamins that help children to grow, develop and thrive.

The brand has long been an advocate of children’s growth and development. Society puts a lot of focus on child’s health and well being which is imperative, however, often the most important lessons of empathy and acceptance that are essential for character building are missed. Blue Band aims to reinforce the importance of social inclusion for parents/guardians to teach kids the idea removing barriers for differently-abled kids through this initiative.

Blue Band has not only started the conversation around inclusion, but made an effort to further the discussion by joining hands with Special Olympics Pakistan and organized the ‘Both Buddy & Me’ race. The race was conducted at Pakistan’s largest inflatable race course where kids were paired up in a buddy system with differently abled kids to finish the obstacle course together as a team. This helped bring the kids closer, whilst reducing barriers for differently abled kids through an opportunity to showcase their skills in sports and games. The race was held on September 17^th at Beach Luxury Hotel.

The race hosted a crowd of over a thousand people which included many celebrities with their families namely Syra Shahroz, Nida Yasir, Shahroz Sabzwari, Zhalay Sarhadi, Shaista Lodhi, Sunita Marshall, Amma Sheikh, YBQ, Muznah Ibrahim, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohib Mirza, Amna Malik, Faysal Qureshi, Salman Sheikh and Hira, and Hassan Ahmed. The race was hosted by Faizan Haque with special performances by Khaled Anam and Asim Azhar.

Director Foods & Refreshment Unilever, Farheen Salman said, “This event not only brought the topic of inclusion to the forefront, but also provided the start of an actionable and meaningful movement about character development. Children are the future and we need to make every effort to nurture an environment where people of all abilities feel safe, included and accepted and are given a chance to participate to create a more tolerant and well-rounded Pakistan.”

Founder Special Olympics Pakistan Ronak Lakhani expressed her appreciation for Blue Band’s initiative, adding ‘This event has been a step towards spreading awareness. It helped us celebrate inclusion and spread the goodness. Achai Barhnay Do.’