Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma launch campaign for COVID relief

Mumbai: Celebrity couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma have launched a fundraising campaign calling 'In This Together' to do their bit of help towards Covid relief.

The couple has collaborated with the crowd-funding platform 'Ketto' for the campaign and has donated Rs 2 crore towards this initiative. They aim to raise about Rs 7 crores for Covid relief in India.

Anushka Sharma in a video posted on her Instagram said: "India is going through an extremely difficult time and the second wave of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has pushed our country to a state of crisis. It is time for all of us to come together and do our bit for our fellow countrymen who are in serious need of support.

"Virat and I have been hugely pained looking at the inexplicable suffering that people are going through and we hope that this fund will aid in our fight against the virus that we are all helplessly witnessing. We are praying for everyone's safety. We hope that you join us in our prayers to save as many lives as possible because we are all in this together," she added

Virat said: "We are going through an unprecedented time in the history of our country and our nation needs all of us to unite and save as many people as possible. Anushka and I have been shocked to see humans suffering since last year. We have been working towards helping as many people as possible all through the pandemic and now, India wants our support more than ever.

"We are starting this fundraiser with the confidence that we will be able to raise substantial funds to aid those in dire need. We are confident that people will come forward to support fellow countrymen in crisis. We are in this together and we shall overcome this."

#InThisTogether will run for seven days and the proceeds raised will be directed to ACT Grants, the implementation partner for this campaign.

"Having strong voices like Anushka and Virat help drive fundraising efforts will go a long way towards helping us realise this goal. On behalf of India's startup ecosystem, ACT Grants is truly grateful to have them join this mission," said Gayatri Yadav, spokesperson ACT Grants.

"We are delighted to collaborate with Virat Kholi and Anuskha Sharma for their philanthropic endeavour to support our Covid relief programme," said Varun Sheth, CEO & co-founder, Ketto.org.