Washington:
A group of Indian-Americans from the US city of Boston have pooled in USD 600,000 to send medical supplies to India, which is experiencing a deadly wave of the coronavirus.
A plane carrying the medical supplies, which includes 3,400 oxygen concentrators, will leave for India on Saturday (May 8) and reach Mumbai by Monday (May 10), reported local newspaper India in New England.
Eminent Indian-American philanthropist couple Desh and Jaishree Deshpande have contributed USD 250,000. The same amount has been donated by Prashanth and Anuradha Palakurthi.
Other Indian-Americans in the Boston area have pitched in the rest USD 100,000.
The initiative in this regard was launched by Boston entrepreneurs Gitika Srivatsava and Naresh Ramaraja, the local weekly said.
The donation will be received by Tata Memorial Center in Mumbai.
“Within no time Bostonians came together and seeded the effort with USD 600,000,” Desh Deshpande was quoted as saying.
The Indian community in Boston is now raising funds for a second plane-full of COVID-19 supplies, he said.
India is experiencing a raging second wave of the pandemic, with over 400,000 coronavirus infections and over 3,000 deaths being reported daily for the last one week.
According to the Health Ministry, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 2,14,91,598 on Friday, with the death toll at 2,34,083.
