GILBERT, Ariz. — Astha Dedakiya, 17, was born in India, so when she sees international news reports of the death and destruction that COVID-19 is wreaking on her home country, it hits differently.
“Even though it’s being shown here, once you talk to people over there you feel the impact in a way,” Dedakiya said.
The Gilbert Classical Academy junior left India when she was five years old and has since become a naturalized American citizen, but she still visits family in India regularly.
She decided she didn’t want to sit by and watch things get worse.
“I know there wasn’t a lot I could do but I knew I could do something,” Dedakiya said. “So I was like ‘Let’s just start it and see what happens.’”
She used some leftover birthday money to get together essentials like rice, water, soap, and masks, and she began packing boxes.
She sent those boxes to India, where nongovernmental organizations helped distribute the goods inside.
She estimates that she has sent about 75 boxes to four states in India so far and that her supplies have helped more than 600 Indians.
“There’s always something you can do, and any help is good help in my opinion,” Dedakiya said.
She is now looking for help from this community to help more people in India. She hopes that one day she can get enough money to help fill the country’s most critical need: oxygen.
If you would like to help Astha Dedakiya with her mission, you can donate here.
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