Together with other countries and organizations coming forth to help India overcome its current COVID-19 wave, the Indian Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has joined hands with several of its global humanitarian partners and local governments to provide pandemic relief to the country.
Oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and other medical equipment worth a combined US$4.15 million, are being donated throughout India by the Church to ease the distress for frontline health care workers, patients and displaced migrant workers during this COVID surge.
“Our hearts reach out to all those who are suffering and to the frontline medical workers who are dedicating their lives to fight this battle with everyone,” said Elder John Gutty, the Church’s Area Seventy for India. “We hope the Church’s contribution can provide some relief to them during this critical time.”
Project Hope, CARE, ADRA and Catholic Relief Services are the long-term global humanitarian partners that the Church is working with this time to distribute its donation in India. The Church also collaborated with the ministry of health in New Delhi and the health department in the state of Telangana for the same effort. All parties worked together to send the needed supplies directly to hospitals in heavily impacted states such as New Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Elder Gutty said it is important to work with global and local partners or authorities to overcome the delivery challenges and controlled orders during lockdowns in some regions.
In the northern part of the city of Vidarbha in the state of Maharashtra in central India, food kits were also distributed to migrant workers impacted by the lack of work due to the lockdown in Maharashtra. The partnership between the Indian Society of the Church and the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) also included a hospital bed donation in Bengaluru. More contributions will continue in the coming weeks.
“As we lend our hearts and hands to answer the temporal needs for those who suffered, we pray that this assistance can also bring some emotional comfort to them,” Elder Gutty said.
