BENGALURU: Even a small help can go a long way – this is the belief of the 'Bangalore for Migrants', a group of seven volunteers who have become a lifeline for many patients caught in the Covid wave.
From starting a crowd-funding initiative to buy high-duty ventilators to arranging beds and oxygen cylinders for patients and even helping some pay their medical bills, the group members have been doing all that they can to aid people in the thick of the pandemic.
The members cut their teeth during the first wave of the pandemic, helping migrant labourers hard-hit by the lockdown with food packages. Now, in the second wave, they have gone a step ahead and are helping hospitals and patients with their services.
Shelling out money from their own pockets, the team has, so far, procured four non-invasive ventilators – which comes up to Rs 45,000 for each member -- dialysis machines, 10 ICU beds as well as 15 oxygen cylinders and nine concentrators. And they donated the equipment to some small private hospitals in the city. The group has also started a free ambulance service with three vehicles. Also, they recently raised Rs 20 lakh through a crowd-funding initiative and procured two high-duty ventilators, which they donated to a private hospital.
Apart from all these, the team has also been helping patients pay their hospital bills and buy medicines. “Since we have been helping in arranging hospitals beds, many relatives of patients have our numbers and call us if they cannot pay the medical bills. We help them pay their bills from our own pockets, or sometimes, friends and other families pitch in too. Sometimes, people do not want to go to the hospital as they are short of cash, but we tell them we can manage the expenses. Once they recover, they thank us and we are just happy that we have saved a life,” said Saqib Idrees, entrepreneur and member of Bangalore for Migrants.
The group has donated over a 1,000 grocery kits to the needy and 25-30,000 cooked meals in a month, said Usman Sharieff, secretary of Jumma Masjid Trust Board and part of the group. “We are just doing what we can. Many are hard hit during these times and all we can do is help. We have managed funds and procured medical equipment for hospitals in our capacity.”
They are now preparing for the third wave and talking to various paediatric hospitals to help them in procuring paediatric ICU beds or ventilators.