Uses city-to-city connection to help India in heartbreaking crisis.
As India battles a surge in Covid-19 cases, City of Dallas, in partnership with Indian American CEO Council and Dallas Foundation.org, has raised more than $1 million worth of relief supplies for Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Mayor Eric Johnson and Arun Agarwal, the CEO of Dallas-based Nextt and chairman of the Indian American CEO Council, are leading the effort to collect donations for Jaipur, according to an IACEO press release.
So far, the relief effort has raised more than $1 million worth of personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves. The Dallas Foundation is accepting donations at DallasFoundation.org/IndiaCovidRelief.
READ: New York City to aid India’s Covid battle (May 17, 2021)
The mayor asked Agarwal, who serves as his Park Board appointee, to help identify a city in need in India. Agarwal selected the capital of Rajasthan state Jaipur with population of more than 3.1 million people.
Cities are on the front lines of solving the world’s problems,” Johnson said. “This has been made even more apparent during the pandemic as local governments, in the absence of clear federal guidance and planning, had to act quickly last year and take decisive measures to protect their residents’ lives and livelihoods.”
Johnson and Agarwal had a virtual meeting Saturday with Rajasthan Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Raghu Sharma, to discuss the effort, the release said.
READ: Mastercard donates $8.9 million to AIF for India Covid relief efforts (April 30, 2021)
“The crisis in India is heartbreaking and beyond comprehension,” Agarwal said. “I am incredibly grateful to Mayor Johnson for stepping up to ask how Dallas can help the people of India through this city-to-city connection.”
Johnson said he will continue to look for ways to help other cities in the world that are grappling with surges in Covid-19 cases.
“Dallas has amazingly generous people and a vibrant philanthropic community,” Johnson said. “We know that to be true in Dallas, and soon, the world will know it, too. Our goal is to be recognized on the global stage as the most generous city in the world.”
Battling a second deadly Covid-19 wave, India has reported more than 25 million COVID-19 cases, which is now second only to the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The virus has also been responsible for more than 278,000 deaths in India.
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1 Comment
Arun Kumar
Several years ago I was in Jaipur and paired women’s self help groups with poor blind people in the rural areas. While in Jaipur I visited a home for poor blind people, there were a lot of people there. I would like to communicate with the administrators of that home. Can you help me to obtain the name of that home?