As the second COVID-19 wave ravages the nation with shortage of oxygen cylinders and concentrators in almost every corner of India, alumni from prominent institutes such as The Indian School of Business, Lady Shriram College, Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) have come together to procure & distribute oxygen concentrators for those in need in India.
Working in individual capacities as volunteers, the group is united by their spirit to serve the country during this humanitarian crisis and identifies themselves as, India United. They are a 100% not-for-profit group and are working with leading organizations steering efforts in the space for COVID relief like Swasti, Milaap and the Hemkunt Foundation.
Earlier in May, the team started an online fundraising campaign with a goal to collect INR 1 crore to procure 150 oxygen concentrators on the Milaap platform, and with help pouring in from globally, they’ve raised over INR 98 lacs already. Thus far, the group has procured and distributed 63 oxygen concentrators across – Gurugram, Dehradun, Jaisalmer, Saharanpur and Bangalore. Organisations supported include COVID care centres operated by Hemkunt Foundation and partner organisation- Swasti.
Overwhelmed with the generosity they have received and their spirit to serve the country in this humanitarian crisis – they have recently increased their goal to INR 1.5 crore and intend to help even more communities and non-metros in the coming weeks with supply of oxygen concentrators. Their focus is now turning to areas which have now started reeling under the increasing caseload including states like J&K, TN, Goa and Gujarat.
Already on the helm of future procurements, they are currently identifying organisations to distribute 100+ concentrators that will be dispatched to NGOs and hospitals in the coming few weeks.
“We acknowledge that COVID-19 isn’t a race, but a marathon- we aimed to answer the most pressing need in the beginning of May by focusing on oxygen concentrators as an immediate need to reduce the load on the medical ecosystem. This initiative will assist at least 1,000 COVID patients in the coming months and save numerous lives. In the coming months, we will continue to put our best efforts forward to help India combat this virus and give everyone a fighting chance.”, shared a volunteer of the initiative.
The initiative has got backing from marquee names such as upGrad cofounder Ronnie Screwvala and Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari so far.
