ORLANDO, Fla. — They say they send money to India because their hearts tell them to.

They say they do so because they have friends and family there.

Most of all, members of the Orlando-based Indian American Business Association and Chamber say they give because they see millions of people suffering.

“The situation is very dire,” said Prashant Patel, the organization’s president.

Patel refers to the COVID-19 crisis in India, which has seen more than 25 million cases and nearly 280,000 deaths since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Most notably, the country has experienced a surge in recent months during which a highly contagious new strain, the B.1.617 variant, reportedly has killed more than 4,000 people a day.

Patel says news of increased cases and deaths inspired the Indian American Business Association and Chamber to raise funds for emergency relief to India’s hospitals and people.

The organization says it has raised, with the help of other people and organizations, more than $40,000, which has helped hospitals in India purchase critical COVID-19 supplies such as oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and peak-flow meters.

Reports say the crisis has overwhelmed hospitals, which have run out of oxygen supplies and prompted patients’ relatives to go from hospital to hospital in search of oxygen concentrators and cylinders.

“We see video and pictures and hear stories from friends, colleagues and relatives in India,” Patel said. “It’s so driving. It’s so emotional. It’s a humanitarian crisis.”

For millions in India, the crisis worsened Monday when Tropical Cyclone Tauktae slammed into the state of Gujarat, home of Patel’s parents.

The storm reportedly was the strongest ever to hit India’s west coast. It forced the evacuation of hundreds of COVID-19 patients and hampered the government’s response to the pandemic, according to reports.

“This is disastrous timing for India,” said Yogesh Bharucha, vice president of the business association and chamber. “India is dealing with a lot... So we need all to unite and do our part.”

The organization says many of its more than 600 members maintain friends and relatives in India, including some who have contracted COVID-19.

Bharucha said his mother-in-law, 71, and a sister-in-law, 48, caught the virus on a recent trip to India and were hospitalized for three weeks.

He said both relatives received sufficient treatment supplies, but that’s hardly the case for many.

The Orlando organization gets its aid to India through contacts with health care workers at hospitals throughout the subcontinent.

In addition to oxygen equipment, it supplies masks, hand sanitizer and other preventative materials, it says.

The organization also says it has been providing food to families unable to leave their homes because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Organization members say they receive feedback from people they’ve helped, but “we’re not looking for any rewards,” Bharucha said. “It’s a time of need. You’re not looking for a medal or anything. That’s not what we do here.”

Bharucha said he and Patel four years ago formed the Indian American Business Association and Chamber as a Central Florida networking platform that would aim to help where it could. The organization gave away masks in Orange County early in the pandemic when they were in short supply, he said.

Rather than donate through the organization, officials say, some association members have gone through other means to help people in India. International aid groups include Care, Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders.

You can contact the Indian American Business Association and Chamber here.

“We are not the only one,” said Patel, the association president. “You can definitely reach out to us, and we’ll guide you, but you don’t have to give us money directly.

“But help.”

“Anything you can give,” Bharucha added, “give from the heart.”