An Indian-American non-profit body has raised nearly $4.7 million through social media towards Covid-19 relief efforts in India as the country battles a severe second wave of the pandemic. The US India Chamber of Commerce DFW and the Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston – both from Texas – in partnership with the USICOC Foundation shipped out the first batch of 20 ventilators to the Indian Red Cross Society in Delhi to be disbursed to hospitals and field teams in hard-hit areas, a media statement said. The US India Chamber of Commerce (USICOC) Foundation and its partner organisations are shipping 50 ventilators to India, besides other medical supplies, to help the country fight the deadly second wave of COVID-19.
The foundation made arrangements to ship 20 ventilators on Tuesday April 27. It will send 30 more in the next few days.
These ventilators will be released to the Indian Red Cross Society in New Delhi for distribution to hospitals and field teams in hard-hit areas, the USICOC said. Neel Gonuguntla, president of the USICOC DFW, Jagdip Ahluwalia, founding secretary and executive director of Indo-American Chamber of Greater Houston (IACCGH), and Padma Sri Ashok Mago, founding chairman of the USICOC, teamed up to lead the efforts through the USICOC Foundation. Spearheading the project on behalf of the USICOC Foundation and the broader community, Gonuguntla said, "This collective community effort on behalf of dozens of individual donors, community organizations, businesses like DFW International Airport, PGL Logistics, American Airlines, and others, came together like a beautiful symphony of genuine compassion to rise up and meet the need of the hour which is to help save lives and get the pandemic under control in India."
Qatar Cargo also stepped up in support of the humanitarian effort shipping tons of ventilators and much needed supplies free of charge, on their flight from DFW to DOH, and trans-shipping onward to BLR. Salute to the DFW cargo community for coming together and supporting this worthy humanitarian mission.