GERMANTOWN, Tennessee — A Germantown teenager is helping to raise funds for those hit by the coronavirus crisis in India. The death toll in the country continues.
“I was watching the news and I saw all these bodies in the streets and so I decided a couple of dollars could go a long way,” said Houston High School student Smayan Sompalli.
The 15-year-old has a grandmother in India who contracted COVID-19 just 5 days after she received her second dose. He began a GoFund Me to raise money for PPE, hospital beds and medicine.
“I didn’t think we would reach $10,000 at all, we’re 10 dollars short of $5,000 already which is crazy to me.”
The COVID-19 strain B1.617 that originated from India has been found in one person in Shelby County who recently traveled there. Sompalli said his family members in India are doing okay health-wise but it’s the mental battle that is tough at this point.
“Mentally I would say it’s taking a toll,” said Sompalli. “Imagine if we were going through that and everywhere you looked out there’s mass cremations and fires burning in the streets.”
Sompalli said one lesson we can learn is that we’re all connected, and if one community suffers, we all have a responsibility to pitch in.
“If we all don’t play our part in this then we’re going to be in this pandemic for a lot longer than we want to be in it for.”
Click here if you would like to donate.