(Image source from: fbcdn.net)

Viveik Patel, 26-year-old Indian who is residing in United States has raised over Rs 5 crore for Pulwama Martyrs’s families through Facebook fundraiser.

Patel, working as a Business Analyst in Virginia, originally hails from Vadodara, Gujarat.

Following Pulwama Terror attack on February 14 where 40 central Reserve Police Force Personnel killed, viveik wanted to help the families of Martyrs.

As a result he first went through the official government website ‘Bharat Ke Veer’. It is an official fund raising website run by ministry of Home Affairs for Armed Forces.

But he came to know that they were not accepting the United States debit or credit cards. Therefore, he decided to start his own fundraiser.

“I initially went through the government website Bharat Ke Veer but they weren’t accepting any US debit or credit cards. The site was also down due to a lot of traffic therefore, I couldn’t donate there,”he was quoted as saying by Indiatimes.

“I wanted to reach out to the maximum number of people and I think what better medium could we use than Facebook.” With an initial goal of USD 5,00,000, he started this initiative on Facebook on February 14.

Through this medium Patel managed to raise USD 2,52,000 within just 12 hours. In just four days, the fundraiser had surpassed its goal of USD 5,00,000 and is about to hit a million dollar. At the moment, the Facebook fundraiser has donations worth USD 8,04,747 which approximately translates to Rs 5.75 crore.

As on Monday night, almost 21,000 people had donated for families of the CRPF martyrs and 75,000 had shared the fundraiser. Patel was even invited on a Chicago-based Indian Radio station called Desi Junction radio where he answered queries of the listeners who wanted to know about this initiative.

“We are all Indians at the end of the day. No matter where you live, what you do, you will always remain an Indian. We cannot compare the sacrifices made by our soldiers with money but we can provide help to their families.” he said.

However, Patel has to ensure that such a huge fortune gets transferred smoothly and safely reaches the victims of this tragedy.

Viveik Patel’s initiative is also being supported by Facebook Fundraiser by helping the organizers to ensure that all the money goes to the right place as quickly as possible.

-Sai Kumar