Kelowna charity sending aid to Nepal

KELOWNA – A local charity that helps marginalized children around the world is collecting funds for displaced residents of Nepal after the worst earthquake to hit the country in nearly a century.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the capital of Kathmandu Saturday, April 25. The most recent numbers show more than 4,600 dead, but with aftershocks and a severely compromised infrastructure, that toll continues to rise.

Hope for the Nations was started in Kelowna 20 years ago and program director Patricia Philips says their plan to assist will come in two phases.

“First to provide for basic needs by helping to gather food and water and, secondly, to assist in the rebuilding of this beautiful country,” she says in a release. “Many people are being forced to sleep outdoors in the cold for fear of the aftershocks causing more damage to the buildings. Resources are scarce as food and water are becoming increasingly hard to come by.”

The release says nearly one million children require urgent humanitarian assistance after the earthquake in Nepal and children are particularly vulnerable.

“Limited access to safe water and sanitation puts them at great risk from waterborne diseases, while some children may have become separated from their families,” it says.

To make a donation visit the Hope for the Nations website. 

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.