A little over a year after the initial lockdowns in the US, mass vaccinations along with relief efforts were bringing the worst of the pandemic to a close.  The country was reopening and there was a clear end in sight.  But while the US was on its way out of the pandemic, India was descending into the worst condition it had been in since Covid-19 had first arrived over a year before. The country’s medical system was completely overwhelmed by a massive surge in Covid numbers leaving thousands of people dying from lack of oxygen every day.  This was an international emergency and the world rallied to a call for action in assisting India through this crisis. 

The RNP Foundation initially answered the call to action with the help of Dasra, an organization in India that consults non-profits and organizes strategic philanthropy. We decided to focus all our efforts on the Indian state of Gujurat for two reasons: the first being that Ravi and Naina Patel are from and familiar with the region and the second being that CBCC India has Cancer Centers there so the CBCC India team could help execute the RNP Foundation’s philanthropic initiatives on the ground. Dasra guided us to begin by sending oxygen concentrators to hospitals of the region that were most in need.  Subsequently, a member of the Indian Parliament reached out and said that although the oxygen concentrators we sent were necessary for the initial phase of the emergency, the more effective long-term solution would be installing oxygen plants in hospitals.  These plants provide high concentration and flow of oxygen to all the necessary beds in a hospital for long periods of time and excess oxygen can be stored in canisters that are then sent to other places in need.  Long-term oxygen solutions are necessary due to the fact that India’s vaccination rates are extremely low and additional Covid surges are predicted to occur for another 1-3 years.

Around this time we were given additional assistance by the kind hearted Barbara Grim, who donated money to be used towards our Covid relief efforts in India.  A combination of her capital and ours will be used in plans to install three oxygen concentrators in three different hospitals in Gujurat.  We selected the hospitals most in need via the advice and input of Dasra.  One of the hospitals is in an impoverished Muslim neighborhood that receives secondary access to supplies and resources due to Muslims being a religious minority and due to poverty. 

Our Covid relief efforts in Gujurat were not just limited to addressing Oxygen needs.  We had one of the hospitals that is part of CBCC India’s cancer care operation converted into a Covid treatment site.  Additionally, due to the fact that many lung scans need to be done during Covid, we are donating a CT Scanner to an underfunded rural hospital that provides services to all the villages in a large area.  Finally, we are going to provide vaccinations to the volunteers at Manav Sadhana, a non-profit doing Covid relief work around Gujurat.  These volunteers face heavy exposure to Covid and therefore protecting them through vaccination is of paramount importance. 

Despite the fact that the Covid pandemic has been such a heart wrenching and nerve wracking tragedy, it has been amazing to see how people all around the world have come together to tackle the problem from their respective backgrounds and positions in life.  Our own journey to battle Covid both in the US and in India has only been possible through a symbiotic web of relationships involving generous individuals, governmental assistance, effective strategic non-profits, magnanimous businesses, selfless volunteers, and brave resilient citizens. It has been challenging, humbling, and rewarding battling the pandemic in every way we can and it has been an honor to do so alongside such incredible partners.

With many of the patients at the Comprehensive Bloood and Cancer Center (CBCC) in Bakersfield being heavily immunocompromised and elderly, the RNP Foundation saw the importance of getting them vaccinated as soon as possible.  Many of these patients didn’t want to go out of their way to go get vaccinated or didn’t have the knowledge of how to do so or how important it was.  By bringing the vaccination clinic in to the cancer center where they were already getting treatments, and having the CBCC doctors recommend vaccinations to patients, we were able to vaccinate hundreds of high risk individuals who would have otherwise not gone out to get the vaccine. 

December 9, 2020

Some of the hardest hit areas during the pandemic outside of prisons were Native American reservations. For this reason the RNP Foundation made a donation to the First Nations Development Institute’s Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund, one of the most established and longstanding organizations in the country that serves and advocates for Native Americans. Their Covid Response Fund makes use of their ties to Reservations across the country, and their unique understanding of their needs, to allocate the funds towards critical services, infrastructure, communication and technology. We are happy to contribute to their reach and preserve Native American communities.

June 1, 2020

The RNP Foundation has donated 200,000 dollars to the Dolores Huerta Foundation Vecinos Emergency Relief program. This donation is being used to give direct financial aid to migrant workers, run Covid-safe food banks, provide school supplies to children of migrant workers, and create television programming to help inform the local Latin community about the risks of Covid-19. Often times it is minority communities who resist seeking appropriate services because of their immigration status or residencies.

May 30, 2020

With the sudden arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, we at the Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation wanted to find the most impactful ways of using our resources to assist those most affected by this crisis and navigate our way out of it. We concluded that along with sending funding to programs and organizations directly aiding those amongst us who are most vulnerable, we would also need to back research that could help end the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) is the only organization in the world that is 100% focused on funding the most promising drugs and treatments that when given sufficiently early can reduce hospitalization and death rates. It is the ideal vehicle for providing the kind of research support we wanted to be involved with and thus have made a $200,000 donation to the organization.

With the CETF having such an excellent scientific advisory board we feel confident that the right choices are being made and feel assured that we are maximizing the impact of our research dollars.

For more information or to donate to CETF, please visit treatearly.org

December 16, 2020

Due to the difficulties people are having with housing during the Covid-19 crisis, the RNP Foundation donated to the housing assistance fund of Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities is an amazing local organization that works in various ways to assist the community. This housing fund is designed for people who need some assistance to stay in their place of living instead of ending up on the street if they are in between jobs or have fallen on hard times. The RNP Foundation is proud to partner with such incredible local organizations doing work right here in Bakersfield.

June 25, 2020

Recognizing the potential for rapid spread of COVID-19 within the Bakersfield Homeless Center, where already vulnerable individuals and families live in close quarters, measures have been quickly implemented to protect clients and staff. However, these changes due to COVID-19 come at a cost.

To support the Bakersfield Homeless Center through this unprecedented time, The Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation has donated $40,000. The funds will be used towards a variety of services including:

Equipping the lobbies and other points of contact with Plexiglass shields

Tutoring and support for students/children

Supplies such as diapers, baby wipes and feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, disinfectants and more

The Foundation recognizes that any ongoing support makes it possible for Bakersfield Homeless Center to sustain their mission of providing support and resources to families and individuals in crisis while helping them achieve their highest level of self-sufficiency during such a challenging and unpredictable time.

For more information or to donate to Bakersfield Homeless Center, please visit bakhc.com.

December 1, 2020

Mount Tamalpais College’s mission is to provide intellectually rigorous education programs, free of charge, to people at San Quentin State Prison; to expand access to quality higher education for the incarcerated, and foster values of equity, civic engagement, independence of thought, and freedom of expression.

The Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation jumped on this mission, supplying for their educational programs, helping provide materials for the COVID emergency in prison, and to producing videos spotlighting the success and achievement of people who were previously incarcerated as they reintegrate in to society outside.

December 4, 2020

Continuing charity to the incarcerated, the foundation directly donated to the Canteen Project of Restore Justice California, direct funds to assist in providing healthy nutritious food, hygiene kits, and reading materials during the pandemic. In addition, cash was given to the prisoners to buy supplies and other materials needed from the prison store.