The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a deadly turn in India, with a surge in positive cases and deaths across the country. We are writing today to ask you to contribute to the Trickle Up India Emergency Fund, which will provide critical food supplies, PPE, accurate health and safety information, and other support to 8,300 current Trickle Up participants in the next several weeks.

Trickle Up is uniquely positioned to help those who live in conditions of profound poverty, vulnerability, and marginalization – people who may be left unreached by current government and other relief efforts. Including members of our participant families, the Trickle Up India Emergency Fund will help an estimated 40,000 face this historic crisis.

The World Health Organization reports that India now accounts for 25% of global Covid-19 cases, with 400,000 new cases every day. You’ve no doubt seen the news of hospitals and first responders overwhelmed by the Covid-19 surge, people dying for lack of oxygen, cremation fires blazing day and night, and lockdowns that will hobble the Indian economy and force millions of Indians out of work and into poverty.

What the fund will do

Building on our network of partners working in some of India’s poorest states (Odisha and Jharkhand) to bring economic and social support to women and families, the Trickle Up India Emergency Fund will bring immediate help to Trickle Up program participants in the form of:

• Dry ration kits with a month’s worth of food
• PPE and sanitation and hygiene kits
• Information dissemination – delivered virtually – about virus prevention, to help address common misconceptions, neglect, and fear related to the virus and its response measures
• Information to increase access to services, including testing, care (where available), and enabling people to register for vaccinations and government relief programs.

Our India team has organized a distribution system that will procure, store, and distribute relief supplies securely and efficiently. We will use a corps of local agents, providing income to community members who have few wage-earning options. To avoid crowds and maintain social distancing, each program participant will be given a token to redeem for supplies at a specified time and place.

We hope you will consider a special contribution to the Trickle Up India Emergency Fund.