For more than a year, the pandemic has kept the world on edge. Gradually, however, many countries seem to have found a way out and, with the roll-out of vaccination, there seems to be light at the end of the Corona tunnel. However, especially in the last weeks and months, there has been another relapse for a number of countries with hundreds of thousands of new infections and many people wonder how to help.
In India, for example, even with hospitals full, many emergency calls are coming in through social media. Especially in the capital New Delhi, treatment places have become so scarce amid India’s heaviest Corona wave yet that the public call for help seems like the last hope for many families. In addition, the largest vaccine manufacturer in India is now expecting a six-month delay in vaccine delivery for India and emerging countries. To alleviate the pain of those who are suffering, NGOs, communities, ordinary citizens and stars have all found ways to deal with the feeling of hopelessness by trying to raise funds to meet the needs on the ground. Donating online to specific fundraisers to provide COVID relief is a simple way to help too. Below you can find a number of top fundraisers to who you can make online donations, or support through petitions and social calls. All pages are provided in English.
1. Doctors without Borders
Doctors without borders are active wherever human lives are in danger and humanitarian aid is urgently needed. Tens of thousands of humanitarian aid workers are active for Doctors without borders in more than 70 countries worldwide. Since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, people around the world have been living in an exceptional economic, social and medical situation. Everywhere, health systems and medical staff have reached their limits. In more than 250 projects and 63 countries worldwide, Doctors Without Borders is working against the pandemic and for people’s health. They are supporting health facilities and hospitals in the care of Covid 19 patients, caring for vulnerable people for whom infection with the coronavirus can pose a great risk, helping to maintain general health care and provide basic medical services, and advocating for equitable access to vaccines.
2. Deutschland hilft!
Aktion Deutschland Hilft e. V. – Alliance of German Relief Organisations, based in Bonn, is an association of German relief organisations for disaster relief. The aim is to combine forces and thus help more quickly and effectively, as well as to jointly raise funds in the event of a disaster. During the time of the Pandemic, there is a special Corona emergency aid worldwide in which you can make your donations. Aktion Deutschland Hilft – the alliance of German aid organisations – provides emergency aid in the fight against the Coronavirus.
3. GiveIndia.org
GiveIndia.org is a non-profit organisation in India. It is an online donation platform and aims to channel and provide resources to credible non-governmental organisations across India. For the pandemic, they are involved in numerous UNter projects, three of which we present to you in the following
The image of patient families crying and crowding outside hospitals desperate to get urgent medical help for their kith and kin is etched in our memories. There is a critical and immediate need for oxygen in hospitals and COVID Care Centres. Donate to this COVID fundraiser and you will help set up oxygen generation plants in hospitals in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Patna; provide oxygen concentrators and cylinders; provide refilling facilities for empty cylinders, and contribute to life-saving equipment such as Bipaps and ventilators.
This is a fundraiser for COVID-relief in India started by top Indian celebrity Priyanka Chopra and her musician husband Nick Jonas. Deeply upset by all the suffering that people in India are going through, they have started a campaign called #TogetherForIndia to raise funds for physical healthcare infrastructure such as COVID care and isolation centres, medical equipment like oxygen cylinders and concentrators and to provide vaccination support, particularly in rural areas. They are hoping to raise $1million as quickly as possible so it makes an impact quickly too. If you are a fan, you might like to make an online donation to this COVID fundraiser.
Feeding the hungry during COVID
Since the pandemic began last year, poverty has doubled in India. Underprivileged families with little social security had barely started earning again when the country got engulfed in a deadly second wave of coronavirus. Donate to this COVID fundraiser to save the hungry from starvation. ₹1,750 will provide two meals a day for a week to one family, while ₹500 will help a poor family with one week’s ration. To start with, meals will be served to municipal wards, orphanages, elderly in need, sick patients and daily wagers in need across Maharashtra. Each meal will be a nutritional platter comprising healthy staples like rice, daal, vegetables, chapati and more. Rations kits will contain daal, rice, salt, oil, atta, masala, tea, sugar etc. Widespread hunger leads to widespread malnutrition – by donating you can help prevent that.
4. Global Citizen
Global Citizen is a platform for people from around the world to work together to address the greatest challenges of our time and create change. On Global Citizen, you will not only find information on the Global Goals and stories on topics such as education, environmental protection, health or equality, but you can also take action directly on the issues you care about through petitions, appeals or donations. Over the past six years, millions of Global Citizens around the world have taken action over ten million times to tackle our world’s biggest challenges together. Over ten million emails, tweets, signatures and calls have been made to end extreme poverty by 2030. With current actions concerning the effects of the pandemic, you can campaign for e.g. better access to vaccines, tests and treatment methods in countries in crisis.