Project SKAR is making India safe with one face shield at a time

Project SKAR initiative was started by four likeminded individuals residing in Bandra with the aim to carry out charity work and contribute to the fight against COVID19 After a few initial hiccups Project SKAR is leading the fight against COVID19 by providing face masks and face shields to Indias frontline workers including doctors nurses police personnel BMC workers security guards and shopkeepersSo how did Project SKAR come into existenceView this post on Instagram1000 Face Masks and Shields donated to Colaba Traffic Police ethAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircacircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcirccurreniumlcedilAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcirc JustDonateIt KuchKuchCoronaA post shared by Project SKAR projectskar onMay 22 2020 at 652am PDTKaramjyot Singh Chawla cofounder of Project SKAR explained the idea behind the project While rushing back to India from Canada after the COVID outbreak I saw how panicky people were about the entire coronavirus situation While boarding an old woman was offloaded by the crew because of the risk posed by coronavirus for senior citizens The incident rattled everyone in the flight Even after donning certified N95 masks many fliers were afraid At that moment a thought came to my mind What about our frontline workers and doctors They were treating infected patients despite shortage of protective equipment and that thought was horrific An immediate desire to do something to support the frontline workers arose and that is how the idea took shapeKaramjyot Singh Chawla with Abhishek Trimukhe DCP Mumbai police zone 9Project SKAR is an initiative led by four students Sarabjyot Chawla Karamjyot Chawla Avneesh Bhargava and Rishika Bhargava and the name SKAR has been conceptualised using initial letters of the names of the four founders The group aims to raise funds and provide face masks and face shields to frontline workers who are risking their lives for others in the fight against the COVID19 pandemicWith the help of Congress leader Asif Zakaria the team took a big step by joining hands with the local civic body in Mumbai with the aim to provide protective equipment to frontline workers Project SKAR then piloted a city wide initiate which saw eager citizens from Worli Goregaon and Versova wanting to participate and be a part of the noble cause Initially they started with the distribution of face shields later Project SKAR met Indias largest manufacturer of school bags and began making face masks Gradually Project SKAR tied up with the BMC the police department and few hospitals in Mumbai to distribute face shields and masksTo date Project SKAR has distributed over 20000 face shield to frontline workers including doctors and security guardsToday Project SKAR is operating in 8 cities including Mumbai Navi Mumbai Bangalore Daman Vapi Baroda Delhi and Panipat among others From a small drive of distributing face shields in Bandra we expanded to other places in Mumbai and soon began distribution in other cities too We have distributed over 30000 masks and face shields across the country till now to migrant labourers doctors nurses BMC workers police officials and other frontline workers who need it the most said Karamjyot ChawlaProject SKAR opted for crowdfunding in order to raise money to support their cause Interestingly the team came up with this unique concept that every time they sold a face shield or a face mask instead of taking the money they asked people to donate the amount on their crowdfunding link wwwkettoorgWhat prompted them to opt for such a method Karamjyot explained Few people thought that we sold the masks shields and pocketed the money To ensure transparency we asked people to donate money on our crowdfunding page instead of paying us the amount which we used for helping the frontline workersOur motive is 11 3 added Karamjyot Explaining the math behind the logic he elaborated Every time we sell a face shield Project SKAR and its vendors donate one extra shield to frontline workers For example when Rs 100 is raised by selling a face shield Project SKAR donates two face shields to the frontline workers To date Project SKAR has raised over Rs 850000 in Mumbai and Rs 4 lakh in Delhi through their Ketto crowdfunding page In the last 40 days they raised nearly Rs 15 lakh through crowdfunding to buy masks and face shields in order to help the frontline workers Project SKAR has distributed over 20000 face shields and nearly 30000 face masksIt was not a smooth sailing in the begining said Karamjyot as he talked about the challenges We faced a lot of challenges with the distribution process It was tough for people to go out during the COVID19 pandemic We made sure that ouroffice workers who helped us with the distribution werewearing proper PPE kits and following the guidelines laid down by the World Health Organisation WHO Even during our visit to the slums for distribution we were accompanied by BMC and Police authorities We have taken all safety measures and have full support of the civic body and police department as they know what we are doingInitially Project SKAR distributed face shiedls to nearly 450 people at Pali Hill in BandraAlong with the challenge of the distribution of masks and face shields Project SKAR was also facing the shortage of equipment with the rise in demand Even 1000 face shields distributed to the police force were not enough because of the daily use of the equipment In order to match up to the demand we also needed to come up with funds and sometimes it was tough to raise money though crowdfunding as there are so many events happening that people are often confused about whom all to donate said KaramjyotView this post on InstagramDrMuffi is the MD of the covid centres at NSCI Race Course and NESCO We have donated 200 face shields to his team ethAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircacircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcirccurreniumlcedilAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcirc JustDonateIt KuchKuchCoronaA post shared by Project SKAR projectskar onMay 22 2020 at 339am PDTProject SKAR has got support from nearly 40 young ambassadors who are helping them to distribute masks and face shields across different parts of the country Talking about future plans Karamjyot stated that post COVID19 the team will focus on other issues that concerns the people of the countryStay safe stay indoors and do whatever little bit you can for the frontline workers as they are doing their job selflessly to serve all of us We must follow the rules and the guidelines laid down by the government said Karamjyot before signing offRs 100The cost of the facemask and face shieldsold by Project SKAR30KThe number of face mask that the group of four friends have distributed till date20KThe number of face shields Project SKAR has donated to frontline workersRs 850 lakhThe amount Project SKAR has raised through crowdfunding in MumbaiRs 15 lakhThe amount Project SKAR has raised through crowdfunding in the last 40 daysYou can donate to Project SKARs cause at One shield at a TimeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news