Nepal Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund

On the morning of Saturday, April 25 we woke to the sad news of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal.  We immediately launched a relief fund and began reaching out to our partners in Nepal.  The news we heard from the ground was devastating, but the outpouring of generosity by thousands of donors like you from 100 countries around the world has been extraordinary.

We have been in touch with more than 70 of our long-term partners on the ground and are talking with them constantly to determine the biggest needs in each community.  Our first disbursement will be sent this week, and we are committed to letting you know exactly how those funds are spent as soon as possible.

Your donation will initially support a mix of partners that have a specific expertise in emergency first response after disasters, such as International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and Mercy Corps.

Your donation will also support local organizations doing community-based work that is vital - but often overlooked - after a disaster, such as:

• Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness, an award-winning Nepali organization founded in 1987 that is providing safe clean water to earthquake survivors.  
• Ama Ghar, a home for orphaned and abandoned children just outside of Kathmandu.  It was founded by Shrawan Nepali, who spent part of his childhood at the Paropokar orphanage in Kathmandu and later went on to complete his education in the United States.  Your funds will be used to repair the damage to the home and provide emergency supplies for the children.
• Himalayan Cataract Project, an organization that has provided cataracts surgery in Nepal since 1994 and is currently providing treatment to earthquake victims suffering from eye trauma and other injuries.
• Empower Dalit Women of Nepal, a group that has worked with Dalit women in Nepal for more than 15 years, will provide rebuilding funds to women’s groups in rural Gorkha communities to replace homes, livestock, and harvests lost during the earthquake.

Many of our other local Nepali partners are themselves recovering and dealing with aftershocks. We will continue to work with them as they coordinate their response in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, you can read about what each of these partners are doing on the ground in real time on this page.

Thank you once again for being a part of this global community of support for the survivors of this earthquake.  We look forward to sharing more stories from the ground in the coming days and weeks.