American India Foundation also shipping 500 oxygen concentrators,
As India reported a new record daily spike of 386,452 Covid-19 cases Friday, Houston-based Sewa International ramped up their fundraising goal to $10 million to fight the pandemic’s second devastating wave.
The nonprofit organization said its volunteers in the US and in India, are working round the clock to rush medical equipment and essential supplies to hospitals, institutions, and individuals in India.
Sewa International is seeking the advice of a team of doctors in the US on procuring the appropriate medical equipment and supplies to be shipped to India.
Gitesh Desai, President, Houston Chapter of Sewa International, told ABC 13 News-Houston that 400 oxygen-concentrators have been already shipped to India, and 2,184 more would be shipped shortly.
READ: $100 million worth US Covid relief aid starts arriving in India (April 29, 2021)
“We are deeply moved by the response we have received from all of you for our fundraiser,†said Sandeep Khadkekar, Sewa’s Vice President for Marketing and Fund Development, responding to the overwhelming support for their Facebook fundraising campaign.
“Sewa appreciates your willingness to donate for a cause that would save many lives in India. Our top priority is to procure and ship oxygen concentrators to India as soon as possibleâ€.
“We have about 60,000 donors who have supported our Facebook campaign, and it has been a challenge to keep them in the loop of all the work going on behind the scenes,†said Viswanath Koppaka, Director of Marketing, Sewa International.
Sewa which has started ‘Help India Defeat Covid-19’ campaign to ship oxygen concentrators to Indian hospitals, is also providing food and medicines to about 10,000 families and more than 1,000 orphanages, and senior citizen centers across the country.
“Sewa is building a Digital Helpdesk to provide critical information on ambulance services, hospital bed availability, and blood and medicinal supplies to people,†aid Swadesh Katoch, Sewa’s Vice President for Disaster Recovery.
READ: How pressure mounted on Biden administration to help India during coronavirus surge (April 25, 2021)
Meanwhile, American India Foundation said it was sourcing & delivering 500 oxygen concentrators to Delhi hospitals in the next three days to swiftly shore up supplies of oxygen in the capital.
“The current Covid-19 crisis in India is both heart wrenching and dire — for our Indian colleagues and the global community,” it tweeted.
“We’re currently matching employee donations to @AIFoundation and @akshayapatra, and encourage you to share and donate to an organization of your choice.”
India’s health ministry Friday recorded 386,452 cases over a 24-hour period and 3,498 deaths, the highest daily caseload reported across the world, shattering the previous record set just days earlier.
There have been more than 18.7 million cases and 208,000 deaths reported since the onset of the pandemic, making it the second hardest hit country in the world behind the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
READ MORE:
US pledges steadfast, ongoing support for Covid hit India (April 27, 2021)
Indian Americans concerned about travel to Covid hit India (April 26, 2021)
Vinod Khosla offers to help Indian hospitals with import of oxygen (April 24, 2021)
Covid tsunami hits India with record 332,000 daily cases (April 23, 2021)
Don’t let the ‘America First’ derail India-U.S. ties (April 24, 202)
US may curb Air India evacuation flights from July 22Â (June 23, 2020)
Air India announces more US-India flights from June 11Â (June 8, 2020)