2 May 2012 (ERR)

Nearly 9,500 students from basic schools around the country will be gathering in 21 cities and towns on Thursday to take part in an annual charity relay race event.

Schools were allowed to register an unlimited number of eight-member teams in the Teadejooks, as the event is called, with each member having to run a 200-meter distance. Winners will not be named as participation and raising awareness is what counts, organizers said.

The race is part of a fundraising campaign whose proceeds this year will support the treatment of three physically disabled children: nine-year-old Christella and 10-year-old Hendra, both of whom were born with an oxygen deficiency that left them partially paralyzed, and 15-year-old Janar, who was completely paralyzed in an accident last year.

All three have made significant progress in their treatments at the Haapsalu Neurological Rehabilitation Center but still require a lot of rehabilitation, the event organizers said.

Would-be donors to the campaign are being invited to transfer money to a charity bank account or place calls to a mobile number that bills a small sum from the caller's account and transfers it to the charity.