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The story behind Panadura Base Hospital’s crowdfunded refurbishment

31 May 2021

In bleak times, it is important for everyone to individually do what they can to make a difference, whether that difference is to one person in need, or to many. A people-funded project recently made waves for raising over Rs. 40 million to refurbish Covid-19 wards at the Panadura Base Hospital.  The funding drive was led by one person, strategic communications professional Sandya Salgado, who raised this very substantial sum of money in just over a week for the hospital to buy much-needed machinery and supplies to continue treating Covid-19 patients. News of this selfless initiative has been circulating on social media, with people far and wide coming together to contribute in cash or kind to the cause.  People-funding, or crowdfunding, is not always a method of fundraising that is successful, especially with raising large sums of money. Most notably, issues arise around transparency of funds and how the funds raised are used, combined with people not being comfortable donating money to an individual they don’t know – because you never know someone’s true intentions. Brunch reached out to Salgado to learn a little more about how she spearheaded this initiative.   Getting involved with the cause This little inspirational story started when Salgado, who was born and bred in Panadura, was asked by some of the doctors from the hospital for any support she could render in helping them manage treating patients amid the third wave of Covid-19 that is gripping Sri Lanka.  “I have connections to the hospital and have been helping them throughout in one way or another. With the Covid-19 situation, and during the first wave, I had done some fundraising and donated equipment to the hospital, although not to this scale,” Salgado explained. “When the third wave hit, I did hear that there was quite a bit of distress. The hospital was not prepared and was considered to be an intermediary centre. They were struggling to treat patients with very limited resources.”  Initially, there was not a lot Salgado could do, but as time went on, at her husband’s encouragement, she checked in with a nephew of hers, a doctor at the hospital, who explained that they were in dire need of a machine called a high flow nasal cannula machine (the hospital only had one, and needed many more, and a single machine cost Rs. 1.5 million). This conversation made Salgado decide to see how she could help, and she started out by reaching out to family, first speaking to her cousins and seeing if there was a way they could pool in and raise enough money to help the hospital.  At one cousin’s recommendation, Salgado decided to create a WhatsApp group for members of the family and close friends who knew the hospital and the area. Salgado also included in her request for support, a heart-breaking message from her nephew who worked at the hospital explaining just how much in need of support the hospital was.  “That’s how it started,” Salgado said, adding: “Everyone said ‘let’s somehow raise the money and get this machine’. I was quite a frequent Facebook contributor in the past, but I had stopped since January this year (it was getting on my nerves, so I had to take a break). I realised that, sadly, without social media, I couldn’t do this, so I went back on Facebook and wrote a plea with a picture of the machine and the message I got from my nephew. Everything else is history.”    The overwhelming response With her plea, Salgado set herself a target of trying to raise enough funds to buy 25 of the high flow nasal cannula machines, an ambitious number, to be sure. “A friend of mine in Australia said I was crazy,” Salgado shared, adding: “But I said you have to think big. If I aim for 25 I might get five. Before we knew it, money was coming in and we were able to move on to other things, so I asked the hospital for what they needed, and then the whole list came in (the amounts were all in millions). Within seven to eight days, we were complete.”  The funds raised, in addition to allowing the hospital to purchase much-needed machines, also allowed the hospital to fully refurbish two existing wards, Ward 7 and Ward 4, an endeavour for which the hospital had received funding from the Government, but which the fundraising done by Salgado had helped them complete to a much higher level.  “The doctors at the hospital have the best equipment at the moment,” Salgado said, adding: “They don’t quite know what hit them. What is really fabulous is that the doctors at the hospital and the health staff have all got a new lease of life. You can see completely different emotions and commitment coming through now, because they were miserable at the beginning and patients were dying. It’s a lovely outcome to see.”  Salgado shared that, all in all, the fundraising exercise had raised a total of Rs. 56 million including the funds given by the Government for refurbishing the wards (Rs. 3 million), direct donations of all sizes from individuals (Rs. 3 million), partner contributions from organisations like the Rotarians Colombo Regency Club and the Let’s Save our Hospitals Group from Panadura (Rs. 10.6 million), as well as contributions from direct suppliers (Rs. 23 million). Sharing a little more insight into how she raised funds behind the scenes, Salgado explained that she approached trust funds and organisations, who contributed fairly big amounts and paid these donations to suppliers directly, with Salgado negotiating the rates with these suppliers and co-ordinating the deliveries.  Maintaining complete transparency was always important to Salgado, who shared the she hopes to publish a statement of accounts on social media in the near future to show people how every cent collected has been spent, as well as looking into other ways for those who have donated to be able to access lists of donations and receipts to confirm the authenticity of the final accounts.    The impact of successful crowdfunding With much outcry in previous months over people misusing crowdfunding initiatives, Salgado shared that as long as the intentions behind fundraising are pure and transparent, crowdfunding is an impactful way of making a difference, because people do want to help, especially in times like these.  “I’m inundated with calls from people asking to donate money and equipment, even after saying the project is over. It’s about what you stand for and your integrity,” Salgado said, adding: “There could be people trying to fish in muddy waters, which is something people should be mindful of. It must be very clear where and who the money is going to. I kept putting up posts saying ‘so much collected, so much to go, this equipment bought, etc.’ I kept giving updates almost every day, so people saw the results very clearly.”

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