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The iconic toy company Lego has announced it will donate $1 million to Save the Children India to help provide support as the country faces a new wave of COVID-19 cases that have reached record levels.
The $1 million donation comes from The Lego Group and The Lego Foundation, and the money is specifically being donated to help support families and children in Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.
“It will be used to deliver learning to around 20,000 children aged 3-14 whose education has been disrupted by the most recent outbreak, ensure food security for families, and provide COVID-19 Care Kits designed to reduce infection rates,” the company said in a news release.
“The latest outbreak is having a devastating impact on caregiving and schooling for the country’s most vulnerable children,” Lego Group India boss Steen Lauge Kokkenborg said. “We hope this contribution will provide some security to children and families as well as allow children to continue to learn through play and build vital skills despite schools being closed.”
Save the Children India CEO Sudarshan Suchi said, “Save the Children has embarked on a journey to reach and protect 1 million people across multiple locations in India, and we thank our friends at the LEGO Group for pledging US$1 million and providing us with crucial and timely support with our ambition.”
Suchi added: “With this support, we will focus on children’s survival by distributing COVID-19 Care Kits, food and nutrition support and hosting medical consultations. Additionally, we will take our relief a step further and focus on ensuring learning continuity through the crisis–a fantastic aspect of this partnership. By concentrating on learning continuity, we are guaranteeing physical, psychosocial, and cognitive security that will ensure the growth and development of our children remains intact.”
The Lego Group previously made a donation in May 2020 when it teamed up with NITI Aayog and Save the Children to help provide support for home-based learning and community efforts related to healthcare to support people in the country during the pandemic.
The Lego Group also said in its statement that it will provide support in some capacity to India’s state government relief efforts in Maharashtra, which is where the site of the company’s Mumbai office.
Wednesday, May 12, marked the deadliest 24 hours for India since the pandemic started, with 4,205 deaths reported for the 24-hour period. The country recorded 348,421 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours up to Wednesday, pushing the total number of confirmed cases in the country beyond 23 million. According to experts speaking to Reuters, the COVID-19 numbers from India could be 5-10 times higher than reported.
