NUS Alumni raise S$235,000 within 15 days to save over 10,000 lives from COVID-19

15 April

In the second quarter of 2021, when India was grappling with the massive second wave of COVID-19, alumnus Mr Vishal Ladha (Computing ’17), Ms Ishita Dhamani (Arts and Social Sciences ‘09) and Mr Anoj Viswanathan (Engineering ‘10), along with alumni from NUS, NTU and SMU, launched a global crowdfunding campaign to source oxygen concentrators for India. The campaign was run on Milaap, a platform founded by Anoj, and was called Mission Singapore Universities Mission Oxygen (SUMO). Through innovative marketing tactics, the campaign went viral and within 15 days, Mission SUMO raised S$235,000 from 902 supporters around the world!

To manage the end-to-end aid process from procurement, logistics, to last mile deployment in Indian towns and villages, the Mission SUMO team assembled a globally diverse team of alumni spread across the Singapore, Philippines and India in just 12 hours. They also collaborated with some alumni to organise an online fundraising concert called Sukoon, which raised close to SGD 8,000 through ticket sales.

Oxygen concentrators bought through the initiative were given to several organisations like Community Engagement Lab (CEL), Red Cross and Mission Mercy, which are actively working on the ground to help COVID-19 patients struggling to gain access to medical oxygen.

The work of Mission SUMO was highly appreciated by Ms Shannon Bouton, President of Mckinsey.org; Dr Vivian Balakrishnan (Medicine ’85, ’91), Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; and His Excellency, Mr Periasamy Kumaran, High Commissioner of India to Singapore. This initiative was also featured in leading newspapers like Straits Times Tabla!, The Economic Times, WION News and ConnectedToIndia.

If you would like to make a donation to support this cause, please head on over to the fundraiser here.

Submitted by Team SUMO.

• Others - Singapore Universities Mission Oxygen
• www.sumo.sg
• vladha13@gmail.com