Page 24 - The Indian EYE 051421

NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline MAY 14, 2021 | The Indian Eye 24

covid-19 crisis in indiA

umiya dham new Jersey, vishv umiya

foundation and KPsna sending help to india

Our Bureau
Edison, NJ

s the dreadful news of
suffering and death start-
Aed to trickle in from var-
ious news media about the sec-
ond wave of the deadly Covid-19
pandemic in India, members
of the UmiyaDham NJ, Vishv
Umiya Foundation and Kadwa
Patel Samaj of North America
(KPSNA) sprang into action to
answer the call for help from
motherland at the end of April.
We were all horrified watching
the dreadful headlines: “If there
is an apocalypse, this is it”, “It’s
everywhere”, “India struggles
to breathe” and “Indians gasp-
ing for oxygen are being turned will take normal air and convert working team of Vishv Umiya the same goal. For the first time,
away from hospitals”. The whole it into highly concentrated oxy- Foundation (VUF) in India, un- many organizations helped each
world watched in horror as this gen. They found some in FL and der the leadership of R.P. Patel, other for the same humanitari-
tragedy unfolded right in front of IL as well as a few in TX and worked even harder to quickly an cause. For example, Kadwa
us. Sitting tight and doing noth- made arrangements to quickly provide relief to the ill by taking Patel Samaj of North America
ing was not an option at this time airlift them to get them to the decisive actions, such as starting (KPSNA), a Saurashtra-based
of need, when our own family bedside of patients struggling Covid care centers, installing ox- organization, also furiously
members, community folks, and to breathe. They did not blink ygen plants, distributing oxygen worked to help the community
countrymen were dying just be- to think where the funds would cylinders, transporting patients, in that region. KPSNA raised
cause of the lack of a simple natu- come from, as they needed to act purchasing and distributing $650K in donations in a few
ral resource – oxygen. Under the fast and think later. Despite the medical supplies, and providing weeks; they sent oxygen concen-
leadership of Arvind Patel, Pres- numerous logistical challenges food and groceries for those in trators, purchased ambulanc-
ident of UmiyaDham, the mem- of acquiring these machines, in- need. Within a week, VUF built es, distributed oxygen cylinders,
bers of the UmiyaDham, Vishv cluding international shipping and began running a 120 bed purchased medicines, distrib-
Umiya Foundation and KPSNA and regulatory hurdles, 350 ox- Covid care center in Ahmed- uted testing kits, provided PPE
quickly acted, determined to do ygen concentrators have already abad fully equipped with oxygen. supplies, and provided food and
whatever was necessary to help reached India in the short peri- Dr. Kirit Patel, Vice Chair- groceries, among many other
people in need. The immediate od of 2 weeks, and we are quick- man of UmiyaDham and Chair- activities. Additionally, Umiya
need was to provide oxygen to ly approaching our goal of send- man of OBGYN at JFK hospital, Mataji Mandir in Sidsar simi-
patients struggling to breathe to ing 1,000 oxygen concentrators said “There are vast medical larly built and supported many
give them time to fight the virus to those in need. Meanwhile, the needs of the community suffer- Covid care centers to help these
and get to centers for higher lev- entire community opened their ing from Covid-19 and empha- patients. The emphasis was on
els of medical care. hearts and poured much needed sized the varied need during the reaching the very rural and un-
Under the leadership of funds to help fellow Indians; in different phase of the pandem- derprivileged population in Sau-
Vishnu P. Patel (VP), Vice Pres- a few weeks, $500K in donations ic”. Harshad Patel, Vice Pres- rashtra, Gujarat to provide them
ident of Vishv Umiya Foun- was raised, and it’s still growing. ident of UmiyaDham, stressed with the support they need.
dation (VUF) & Chairman of Oxygen was the most immediate the need to work collaboratively Everyone feels that this is just
UmiyaDham and Dinesh Patel, need, but it is only a small part of with other organizations to fulfill the beginning; there is still more
Chairman of Vishv Umiya Foun- the puzzle. The amount of help the massive need. to be done, so work will contin-
dation - Maryland, countless vol- required by our fellow coun- UmiyaDham NJ and Vishv ue, even as the needs of those in
unteers scrambled all over the trymen during this catastrophe Umiya Foundation worked col- India may change and evolve as
USA to find oxygen concentra- is massive, and their needs are laboratively with many other they continue to come out of this
tors – a medical device which continuously evolving. The hard- organizations working towards tragedy.

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