LAFAYETTE, La. — A local cardiologist and a former UL Lafayette student are raising funds in order to sent medical equipment and supplies to their hometown in Southern India to help fight COVID-19.
According to a release from the Lafayette International Center, the Indian community in Acadiana is not large in numbers, but great in significance. It includes UL professors and students who built up the international fame of the local computer science programs, doctors working in large hospitals and small rural clinics, chefs and restaurateurs.
After managing the COVID-19 pandemic rather well in the first phase, a very aggressive variant of the virus is flooding Indian hospitals and hundreds of thousands are dying, partly because of insufficient respiratory equipment, the release states.
Dr. Kalyan Veerina, an interventional cardiologist practicing in Lafayette and Opelousas, and Ravi Daggula, former UL student, who has revitalized downtown Lafayette real estate scene, recently purchased and shipped oxygen concentrators, special healthcare (CPAP) masks and other much needed supplies for front line workers, to their hometown hospital in Guntur, Southern India.
But more funds are needed, and they are calling for help.
Acadiana is known for the generosity of its people and businesses, the release states. Time is critical because lives can be saved with this equipment.
Veerina and Daggula are asking Acadiana to consider donating $750 to sponsor one kit, which includes one oxygen concentrator, one CPAP mask and 100 N95 surgical masks.
Donations can be made by check payable to "Love Of People" (noting "For India" in the bottom left corner), which is a tax-deductible nonprofit organization based in Lafayette. Checks can be mailed it to Ravi Daggula, at 338 N Sterling Street, LAFAYETTE LA 70501.
Donate can also be made online at GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/c078669b.
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