It’s amazing to me how I could raise around ₹6,65,000 in less than two weeks for the right cause. 150+ kind supporters including my friends, family, friends’ families, parents’ friends, and numerous anonymous donors came together to help the people in need and raise more than Rs 6 lakhs to help me purchase oxygen concentrators for the people of Kuchaman City, Rajasthan suffering from covid-19.
I first wanted to target raising ₹2,00,000 thinking that even that wouldn’t be easy, but my father motivated me to set a target to raise ₹5,00,000 so that it’s meaningful and more people can benefit.
In the beginning of April, my family was infected with coronavirus. First my mother, my brother, then me and my father. Fortunately, my family and I weren’t affected severely. I realised how hard it can be specially when people do not have enough support.
After we all tested negative, I saw my dad multiple times speaking on the phone to arrange for oxygen cylinders, plasma, beds, and other vital essentials for people. A few days later I read on the news that 25 people who were infected with covid had died in one day. The deaths though, weren’t not due to the coronavirus but because of the lack of oxygen. I was shocked.
This inspired me to do something for the community and I decided to start a fundraiser for people in need to raise money to purchase oxygen concentrators and oximeters. Though Delhi and other metros were getting numerous supplies already and have best in the class medical facilities, I realised the situation was much worse in smaller towns. My father informed me about situation in our hometown where my grandparents stay that the cases were increasing there everyday, and support was minimal. Unlike in Delhi, there are no oxygen cylinder refilling facilities and there is only one Government hospital. The only option for any patient with fall in oxygen is to get admitted to the hospital since there were very few oxygen concentrators available in the town. I then started a fundraiser for hometown – Kuchaman City, Rajasthan.
I started a fundraiser on milaap.org at the weblink https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-covid-19-patients-72 .
After getting the fundraiser up and running, I shared the link of the cause with my family, friends, teachers etc. I shared it on various social media platforms and requested everyone else also to share it with their families and friends. At first the fundraiser wasn’t getting enough donations and was a little worried if I could achieve the target. My parents supported me and asked me to follow through and share it with even more people. Multiple accounts retweeted my tweet of the fundraiser.
After the second day the donations started coming in faster. I called my family members, friends etc. and requested them to donate and share. My parents, relatives and friends also shared within their network. In less than a week I had raised over my target – ₹5,00,000 with the help of 153 generous supporters. This is a screenshot taken on 23rd May at 12:00 PM.
We have shipped 5 oxygen concentrators with other multiple necessities such as oximeters and face masks which have already been received by Kuchaman City and are available for use by people. 4 more concentrators have been ordered and will be received next week.
I feel extremely happy that with the support of over 150+ generous donors, we would be able to save few lives. Thanks to all the donors, many of them anonymous for helping me in this. Thanks to all the motivating messages, I have received from everyone. I am proud to support my hometown during the pandemic. I am thankful to my parents who have supported me at every step of this journey. I wish this pandemic gets over soon and life becomes normal for all of us.
About me:
I am Dhruv Mantri, a grade X student at The Shri Ram School, Moulsari Avenue, Gurugram. I live in New Delhi with my parents and my younger brother Krishiv. I love playing football and have represented school before the Covid-19 hit everyone. Being locked at home, I have recently started enjoying boxing.
My inspiration for this initiative were my grandparents and my parents. I have always seen them helping people whenever they can.