On April 25th, a devastating earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.8 struck the country of Nepal. As many as 10,000 are feared dead, and thousands more have lost their homes and businesses.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that over 8.1 million people are currently in need of aid.  More than 3 million require food assistance and greater than 14,300 face serious injuries.  

The government of Nepal has projected that over 130,000 homes have been totally destroyed, and an additional 85,800 have sustained damage.  Tens of thousands of displaced people and families are currently living out of tents in relief camps.

In the past, our community has come together to raise over $10,000 for disaster relief efforts in the Philippines following Super Tyhpoon Haiyan, and over $18,000 to assist those impacted by the 2011 famine in East Africa. 

The time has come for us to pool our efforts and our resources to help the people of Nepal as they work to rebuild and recover from this terrible tragedy.

We've established a group fundraising page with Mercy Corps, the organization we entrusted with previous fundraisers devoted to the 2011 earthquake in Japan and Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, to accept your contributions:

https://www.mercycorps.org/people/niketalk/NepalEarthquake

In recognition of your generosity, we will be awarding special badges to all users who contribute $10 or more to our group fundraising page and leave their account name in the comments section.

$10 - 24  Basic Supporter Badge  (Designed by @Nawzlew)

$25 - 99  Special Contributor Badge (Designed by @Zephyr1983)

$100+  Elite Fundraiser Badge (Also designed by @Zephyr1983)

(If you like one badge in particular, you can always have your choice of any badge equal to or lesser than your pledge level.  Already donated?  You can combine donations to reach a higher badge level.  Just send me a message.)

Badges will be rolling out soon to those who've already contributed.

To get credit for your donation, be sure you contribute through this page only: HTTPS://WWW.MERCYCORPS.ORG/PEOPLE/NIKETALK/NEPALEARTHQUAKE  and leave your NikeTalk screen name in a comment when you submit your contribution!!

If you cannot afford to contribute money, please spare us a moment of your time and help us spread the word.  Our initial goal is $3,000 - and we've already raised our first thousand.  Let's go, #NT!  

In further recognition of your your sacrifices and contributions, NikeTalk will match ALL qualifying user donations made through our fundraising page through May 31st, up to a total of $10,000.  

Those curious about the status of the library we sponsored in Vhingri, Nepal can check out our initial update here:  http://niketalk.com/t/625249/7-8-ea...-op-goal-3000-we-have-hit-1k/60#post_23204207

 

We should be able to set up a group fundraiser with Mercy Corps for this.  

Ideally, we'd get some help creating the necessary donation badges.  (Traditionally, we've had one for a $10 tier, $25 tier, and $100 tier.)  @lobo2mybeats  was kind enough to design the badges for our Room to Read drive this fall, and our Typhoon Haiyan relief badges were designed by @Fongstarr  @Nawzlew  and @spicedham

If anyone else knows of a talented artist who can help us out, please direct them to this thread or have them send me a PM.  

I'm also hoping to check in with Room to Read on Monday to see if there's any possibility that the library we sponsored in Nepal has been damaged, in case we need to raise some money to help cover repairs.