BENGALURU: Two Class 10 students of Greenwood High International School Sneha Raghavan and Shloka Ashok raised over Rs 2 lakh in 24 hours to donate 300 pulse oximeters to underprivileged sections.
They will donate the oximeters to a Bengaluru-based NGO, Sampark, that works with vulnerable groups. The oximeters will be distributed to slum-dwellers in Bengaluru and rural women in Koppal in North Karnataka.
The two designed posters and created a fundraiser page on the GiveIndia website for the project. They also reached out to various oximeter manufacturers to get a better deal. “I spoke to at least five manufacturers, but because of the shortage, some demanded high prices. We had set a goal to raise Rs 2 lakh, but we exceeded it by Rs 14,000. We increased the number of oximeters to 300,” Shloka said.
A social worker, Anupama Parekh, approached them a week ago to know if they were interested in raising funds for a social project and suggested oximeters for early diagnosis, she said. Their crowdfunding campaign got a big response in less than two days, she added. “We had never thought our initiative would get such immense support and response. We are extremely grateful to all the donors. This has encouraged me to take up more such social initiatives,” said Sneha.
“As our board exams are cancelled, we have more time for social initiatives. Now, I am making posters to spread awareness on the pandemic and vaccination, because that is of prime importance,” said Shloka, adding that the two will work with Anupama Parekh on more Covid initiatives. Niru Agarwal, Trustee, Greenwood High International School, said the school would encourage more students to undertake such initiatives in these testing times.