Following remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris reiterating United States’ strong partnership with India in this "hour of need", Silicon Valley angel investor and entrepreneur MR Rangaswami, who founded Indiaspora, a nonprofit community of global Indian diaspora leaders, spoke of the outpouring of support from the Indian diaspora toward India’s COVID-19 relief efforts at a discussion hosted by the State Department.

Rangaswami spoke about the diaspora and the broader American community’s unprecedented response to India’s COVID-19 pandemic at the discussion, “Bolstering U.S. COVID Relief Efforts in India: Perspectives from the Diaspora,” with fellow diaspora leaders and South Asia officials in the Biden Administration. 

“One of our biggest focus areas for Indiaspora is philanthropy. When COVID-19 first hit, we started a campaign called ChaloGive. This has hit everyone on a personal basis. I’m treating this as a personal emergency as well as a call to action,” said Rangaswami, who lost his sister to COVID-19 a few months ago. “We are grateful to the US government, to the diaspora, and to the greater American community for stepping up during this time.”

Moderated by the State Department’s South and Central Asia Senior Bureau Official, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ervin Massinga, the panel discussion also included the following speakers: State Senator Dr. Ghazala Hashmi of Virginia; Gunisha Kaur, Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, Medical Director, Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights; and Lata Krishnan, American Indian Foundation Founder and Co-Chair of the Board.USAID's Deputy Assistant Administrator Anjali Kaur also spoke about USAID's contributions to the relief efforts. 

Indiaspora officially launched their giving platform ChaloGive.org May 3 as a grassroots initiative for the public to donate to COVID-19 relief efforts in India after Indiaspora served as a $1 million matching partner for the high-profile fundraiser, HELP INDIA BREATHE, organized by author and podcast host Jay Shetty.

The ChaloGive for India campaign facilitates giving by the global diaspora toward on-the-ground NGOs working in three areas of COVID-19 relief: the creation of urgently needed COVID care centers and makeshift hospitals through nonprofit WISH Foundation, direct cash transfer to families who have lost a primary earning member through nonprofit GiveIndia, and food relief and livelihood assistance for migrant workers and other underserved populations through EdelGive Foundation to nonprofits Goonj and Jan Sahas.

Donors from anywhere in the world can either choose one area to donate to, or make a contribution that will be evenly split between all three areas. U.S. donors also receive a tax exemption.

“The message from the Vice President about the strong and long-standing US-India partnership was a reaffirming one, and we are humbled by her acknowledgment of how Indiaspora has played a critical role,” said Indiaspora executive director Sanjeev Joshipura. “During a time when people are hurting, the message was clear that the United States, along with its Indian diaspora, will continue to stand with India.”

Indiaspora launched its inaugural ChaloGive giving campaign in October 2019 to encourage higher levels of giving by the diaspora by partnering with more than 20 India-based NGOs, several of which are part of the India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA). Indiaspora launched its second campaign, ChaloGive for COVID-19 in April 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis to alleviate food insecurity in both the US and India by partnering with nonprofits Feeding America and Goonj, respectively (SAM)