DAG to host fundraiser sale of 51 works from its collection to support COVID-19 relief efforts

New Delhi: City-based art gallery DAG will host a fundraiser sale of 51 works from its collection, the proceeds from which will be donated to different organisations engaged in COVID-19 relief efforts, the gallery has announced. Opening on 8 May, the ‘Hope for Humanity Fundraiser Sale’ will continue for a week, and the funds will be donated to three organisations: Sood Charity Foundation, Hemkunt Foundation and Khalsa Aid India. The fundraiser sale, valued at Rs 1 crore, aims to donate 100 per cent sale proceeds to be shared equally between Sood Charity Foundation, Hemkunt Foundation and Khalsa Aid India in support of their on-ground relief efforts to provide succour to those impacted hardest by COVID-19, the gallery said in a statement. The Sood Charity Foundation (an NGO founded by actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood) has been running diverse initiatives that include free doctor consultations, free tests, and arranging and distributing oxygen cylinders to help save lives. Khalsa Aid India, another humanitarian organisation, is actively engaged in supporting COVID-19 patients with oxygen concentrators around the Delhi NCR region and has effectively distributed over 350 concentrators to needy patients at their doorstep in the national capital region so far. It is working towards procuring 5,000 concentrators to expand its outreach to other critically affected areas as well. Funds will also go to the Hemkunt Foundation that has been working to save lives through the second wave of the pandemic, and is now seeking funds to set up an oxygen centre with 300 beds and 100 micro oxygen centres with five concentrators at each centre, DAG said. The foundation is also trying to import 2,700 oxygen concentrators, it added. In order to raise the maximum amount of funds, the gallery has also reduced the price of the selected artworks. “We believe in the healing power of art. Even more, we believe in the power of giving. Through this endeavour, we want to make a difference to the hugely important work undertaken by our charity partners… We urge you to support this the Hope for Humanity Fundraiser Sale, thereby supporting the nation in its greatest hour of need. Every rupee donated will find its way to saving lives and livelihoods,” said Ashish Anand, CEO and MD at DAG. The gallery had hosted a similar fundraising sale during the first wave of the pandemic as well, through which it donated Rs 1.8 crore to different charities to benefit their COVID-19 relief initiatives.