Jack Dorsey donates $2.5M to AID relief efforts

The Association for India’s Development (AID) gratefully acknowledges #StartSmall, Jack Dorsey’s philanthropic initiative, for their generous support and recognition of our COVID relief work in India.

AID is an award-winning, volunteer-driven US-based charity promoting  sustainable, equitable and just development of some of the most marginalized communities in India. We partner with over 100 community-based grassroots groups across India to effect impactful, holistic change in diverse areas of social development including education, LGBTQ and transgender rights, sustainable agriculture, environmental justice and healthcare access. 

For over 15 months, AID has been deeply engaged in COVID relief and rehabilitation efforts in India. During the first COVID wave in 2020, AID efforts helped 200,000 people affected by the disease and the government-mandated lockdowns. We partnered with 30 grassroots organizations across 18 states to provide PPE to frontline workers, and food essentials, grocery support and direct cash transfers to communities left out of the government safety net, including migrant workers stranded in cities and remote villages. 

The second wave of COVID has hit India – particularly rural India –  like another tsunami. Learning from last year’s experience, we are rapidly implementing a comprehensive and layered three-tiered approach to deal with the immediate healthcare crisis:

• Mass information campaigns to build awareness about the disease, early identification of COVID symptoms, scientifically backed home-care, safe masking/distancing practices, and for removing vaccine hesitancy and ensuring equitable vaccine access
• Setting up rural COVID-care centers in multiple states for the mild to moderately ill patients, and 24×7 helplines and help-desks in government hospitals to guide and support patients
• Providing medical equipment support to low-resourced hospitals to take care of the seriously ill patients

With this grant, we will expand the scope of our immediate relief efforts, help under-resourced communities to survive lockdowns and regain livelihoods after the pandemic. The second COVID wave has brought into sharp focus the enormous divide in rural-urban public healthcare and infrastructure in the country. We will utilize a portion of this grant to strengthen rural public health and other essential infrastructure, enabling better preparedness for such extreme events and ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare and other services.

We hope Mr. Dorsey’s generosity will inspire many others to donate to AID and like-minded organizations. The communities on the margins of society need our support – not just to deal with the current crisis, but also to rebuild their post-pandemic lives, livelihoods and dreams.

 

Media Contact:

Shrinaath Chidambaram

Director, Association for India’s Development

Phone: 508-561-8937

Email: [email protected]

 

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