Today we’d like to introduce you to Krutin Devesh.
Hi Krutin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In March of 2020, panic buying of Personal Protective Equipment placed frontline workers in jeopardy. As a result, many medical facilities became dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients. I noticed that my parents would have to come home from work during the day to take synthetic gloves and other equipment from our garden. Inspired by their resourcefulness, I started COVID Med Relief, a nonprofit organization aiming to redistribute excess equipment from homes to medical facilities to continue to provide quality care to their patients. In the past nine months, we have collected over 2,300 units of PPE for frontline workers, with gracious contributions from all across Texas. At first, we began distributing resources to hospitals, and our reach has allowed us to contribute PPE to fire stations, community centers, and other crucial venues that provide care.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One particularly challenging obstacle was contacting organizations to find partners for our donations. With many members of the community stepping forward and contributing PPE, we had to quickly locate facilities to pair the equipment and put it to best use. Due to the shortening of hours of many establishments, outreach became much more difficult. At first, we began contacting local community centers that were close by and easy to get hold of and began partnering with them on our donations. Through these partnerships, we received recommendations to increase our impact and were able to supply frontline establishments that continue to keep the community safe during the pandemic.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
COVID Med Relief provides PPE and other supplies to medical facilities, frontline workers, and other organizations facing tremendous loss as a result of the pandemic. We collect our supplies from organizing fundraisers, inquiries on our website, and donations from people in the community. Our donors recognize that their surplus can be used to make a greater impact on frontline workers. Our match service sets us apart – before organizing a drive or selecting an organization to partner with, we ensure our practices are safe and viable and research where our contributions should go to create the greatest impact possible. In addition to our research, I am most proud of being able to help local businesses, including freestanding ERs, pro bono clinics, and my parents’ own practice. Helping local facilities allows me to give back to the very community that helped me with my first broken bone, the flu, and other illnesses. Our impact with smaller medical facilities helped them continue to provide quality care to their patients as they have since I was a child.
What were you like growing up?
When I was younger, I always loved meeting new people. Having to move every four years was a tradition I became accustomed to. Although I’d often miss the friends, I was leaving behind, moving constantly made me more open-minded and kickstarted a fascination with learning about different cultures. Each city, school, and even neighborhood had its own story to tell – as a curious kid, I loved hearing what they all had to say and absorbed what was around me. As I continue to come of age, I hope to leave an impact on every community I become a part of and give back to the places that will shape me.
Contact Info:
- Email: covidmedrelief@gmail.com
- Website: www.covidmedrelief.org
