Keen to do their part for frontline warriors in the war on coronavirus, independent citizenship organisation alongside a 15-year-old student from Oshiwara
is the latest to have put their digital skills to good use, starting a crowdfunding drive to procure face shields (personal protection equipment) kits for them.
Citizenship organisation group, Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen's Association (LOCA) have joined hands with Ryan Punamiya, a Class X student of Oberoi International School,
to initiate a crowdfunding drive for the frontline workers.
Amid the lockdown, Ryan was taken aback to learn that police officers on patrol and healthcare providers in his area have been given poor quality masks and protective gear.
The youngster was unfazed by this glitch, knowing fully well there were online resources he could tap into because it takes a village, albeit digital, to fund a social cause like this.
LOCA being one of the popular independent citizenship groups having more than 8,000 followers on Twitter partnered with Ryan in the campaign.
Within four days of launching his online campaign, Ryan and LOCA collectively was able to collect Rs 2 lakh. This amount was used to purchase face shields, which were distributed to the staff of Cooper hospital, Andheri and Oshiwara police stations and to the civic workers of the K west ward on Thursday.
"I saw that neither police nor health workers had adequate protective gear, despite the fact that they are at the forefront of the battle against Covid-19," said Ryan.
"Wanting to do my part, I started an online campaign. Having raised money through crowdfunding drives earlier, I did it again, for a noble cause this time," he added.
In the past, Ryan, who aspires to become a robotics engineer, had generated money through crowdfunding for one of his science projects.
However, he wants to raise more money so that he can provide safety gear to frontline workers deployed in other parts of the city.
"We are continuing our campaign and aim to procure more gear and cover more areas, as our funds increase," said Punit Punamiya, Ryan's father.
While Ryan is involved with the online campaign, Punit handles the task of procuring and supplying the essentials.
Punit reaches out to civic officials and police stations, assessing their demands. He then sends two of his staffers with the kits to where they are needed.
"We have supplied kits to essential service providers at Cooper Hospital and Andheri in the first phase. Now, we plan to supply these to vegetable sellers and others in the second phase" stated Punit.
LOCA had spearheaded the social media campaign with the presence of a large follower base, it became easier for them to generate the fund within a short span of time.
"We have done aggresive campaign on Facebook, Twitter & word of mouth to raise funds & distribute Face shields & masks along with Ryan Punamiya. The frontline workers are working on the streets and this is the least one can do to support them in the battle against COVID-19" said Dhaval Shah, spokesperson LOCA.
"I saw that neither police nor health workers had adequate protective gear, despite the fact that they are at the forefront of the battle against Covid-19," said Ryan.
"Wanting to do my part, I started an online campaign. Having raised money through crowdfunding drives earlier, I did it again, for a noble cause this time," he added.
In the past, Ryan, who aspires to become a robotics engineer, had generated money through crowdfunding for one of his science projects.
However, he wants to raise more money so that he can provide safety gear to frontline workers deployed in other parts of the city.
"We are continuing our campaign and aim to procure more gear and cover more areas, as our funds increase," said Punit Punamiya, Ryan's father.
While Ryan is involved with the online campaign, Punit handles the task of procuring and supplying the essentials.
Punit reaches out to civic officials and police stations, assessing their demands. He then sends two of his staffers with the kits to where they are needed.
"We have supplied kits to essential service providers at Cooper Hospital and Andheri in the first phase. Now, we plan to supply these to vegetable sellers and others in the second phase" stated Punit.
LOCA had spearheaded the social media campaign with the presence of a large follower base, it became easier for them to generate the fund within a short span of time.
"We have done aggresive campaign on Facebook, Twitter & word of mouth to raise funds & distribute Face shields & masks along with Ryan Punamiya. The frontline workers are working on the streets and this is the least one can do to support them in the battle against COVID-19" said Dhaval Shah, spokesperson LOCA.
