UPDATE, May 19 | As of May 19, the group has raised $10,000 for relief for India.
ORIGINAL STORY, April 28 | Many people who live in Kansas City, Missouri, and are from India are worried about their families overseas because of a recent COVID-19 surge in the country.
"We are worried. Every other day we are hearing stories about our friends, our classmates that we studied with ... we even lost some of our close friends," said Anjana Singh, president of Indian Association of Kansas City (IAKC).
According to NBC News, the country has passed 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, and it's having a hard time with a shortage of oxygen and medical beds.
"We are reliving the same thing, but in a more wider concept because now it is some of our own," Singh said.
Kansas Citians, that are from India and still have family in the South Asia country are worried about their loved ones.
"We are telling them to stay indoors. If you have to go outside, go the minimal that you need for," said Swapan Saha, of the Association of Bengalis Kansas City - Sangam.
While India is thousands of miles away, doctors said the surge impacts the entire world.
"Certainly I think we're all globally so tied together," said Dr. Sarah Boyd, infectious disease physician at Saint Luke's Health System. "Just the travel the business connections, the spread of variants — that certainly can impact us, whatever country you're in."
Association of Bengalis Kansas City- Sangam approached the Indian Association of Kansas City to start a fundraiser to help buy oxygen and basic medicine.
"Just to help the fellow people who are in distress and problem nowadays," said Amitabh Choudhury, of the Association of Bengalis Kansas City- Sangam.
"Our intention is to collect as much as possible and send it to the organizations that are in India but also connected in the USA ... so we can monitor that the supplies are going to the right people and right places," Singh said.
According to the IAKC website, it "represents the people of Indian heritage in and around the greater Kansas City area. It works closely with various other organizations in the area representing different regions and cultures of India."
IAKC said it will match anyone's donation for the first $2,000 raised.
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