BENGALURU: To help the State Government tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bangalore Student Community (BSC), a group of over a thousand students from colleges in the city, has raised Rs 3.8 lakh using a crowdfund programme to donate a few hundred mattresses to Covid Care Centres in the city in the past week. By Friday, they sent as many as 536 mattresses to the University of Agricultural Sciences.
The BSC initiated the programme on Instagram and WhatsApp from July 4 to 6. In just three days, they collected Rs 3.8 lakh. “We were aware that the government was facing a big shortage of mattresses and that they were renting them. It was turning out to be an expensive affair for them and we decided to conduct the drive,” said Dhruv Jatti, a core team member of BSC.
For Manal Fazal, a student of Christ College who was part of the target team, raising funds till as late as 1 am felt like a pressing responsibility on the part of the student community to help society. This is not the first time that the students have risen to the occasion. Earlier, they collected Rs 10 lakh as part of a fundraiser for migrant workers.
Malavika Uthappa from Mount Carmel College, who was part of the initiative, felt it becomes vital for students to be part of the process in the current situation. These students are now contemplating safe ways to be part of the ground support team in hospitals.