India – Mission – Covid Relief
The alarming spike in COVID cases in India in the past few months created a scramble to locate and ship oxygen devices to India wherever they can be found in the United States and around the world. The collaboration of exceptional and compassionate companies made this impossible mission a reality in saving thousands of lives in India.
Las Vegas partners - Dennis Rucker EVP of Asian American Group/AAG, Captain Gloyd Robinson, Founder & CEO Jet Test; Rita Vaswani, President, Las Vegas India Chamber of Commerce & Asian American Group; Alden Crowley, founder, Another Joy Foundation: and Harry Singh of the Las Vegas India Chamber of Commerce and Las Vegas Asian American Group. These heroes worked with SEWA International USA, Sarva Dharma, BOEING, FEDEX, UNICAL, Coulson Aviation, and other prominent groups, to support and send a Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft full of oxygen concentrators and other life-saving devices from San Bernardino, California to New Delhi, India.
Key Mission Organizers
Accomplishing this huge humanitarian mission required logistical and networking skills, and global collaboration. The team also had to wait for special government permissions to fly from California into India. Las Vegas Community leaders worked with the Honorable Dr. T.V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India in the San Francisco office, and SEWA International USA, a humanitarian Indian philanthropic group in India. Together, they solicited 35 tons of COVID relief aid and oxygen concentrators valued at $2 Million.
Special Thanks Congresswoman Dina Titus
Special thanks to U.S. Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV) who facilitated the necessary approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in Washington D.C. to travel from California to India during the pandemic. Special thanks to Dennis Rucker, Executive Vice President of Las Vegas Asian American Group/AAA, for coordinating with Lilly Spinello in Congresswoman Titus' office.
Consul General Dr. T.V Nagendra Prasad
We want to thank the Honorable Dr. T.V Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India in the San Francisco office, for coordinating with several organizations. His efforts allowed the efficient unloading of humanitarian aid in Delhi, India.
Sky One FZE, an aviation firm specializing in air charter cargo and maintenance services headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, donated the use of their Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft to transport 35 tons of life-saving aid from San Bernardino, California, to Delhi, India
Captain Gloyd Robinson & his Team
Special Thanks to Captain Gloyd Robinson, Founder, and CEO of Jet Test, for donating his time to fly the Boeing 747 cargo aircraft to India. We would also like to express our appreciation to attorney Paresh Shah for his firm's essential support.
Special thanks to Harpreet "Harry" Singh, Chairman of Las Vegas India Chamber of Commerce, who facilitated and connected with the Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi, India, to get the necessary approval to travel through Indian air space. That allowed our humanitarian mission to land and deliver 40 pallets of oxygen concentrators to the Red Cross, India, for distribution to various hospitals in India.
Last, special thanks to UNICAL, COULSON, FEDEX, and all the volunteers who worked for three days to prepare 35 tons of aid for air transport. The Coulson Group supported the mission by donating the use of their large hangar at the San Bernardino Airport, California, which was used as a base of operations in the U.S. They also graciously donated the necessary personnel.
Click on the following link to view the program outline with photos of all the amazing partners working hard to deliver life saving COVID aid to India.