A Missouri Western Graduate student is trying to help the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri raise funds after a devastating earthquake hit in his homeland of Nepal.
Abhash Shrestha said he was lucky that his family survived the earthquake that took the lives of more than 3,300 people in Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh and at the Nepal-China border as of Thursday. Thousands more, were injured. The Red Cross said many are feared trapped under rubble, the number of casualties is expected to rise.
“My family and friends are okay but everything, pretty much all the roads, every minute that you walk you see destroyed buildings,” Sherstha said. “All my friends and family are trying to help out all the community people so it’s really hard for them right now.”
The global Red Cross network has mounted an international relief effort to provide emergency humanitarian assistance following the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal. The Nepal Red Cross, which has extensive experience in responding to natural disasters, is providing first aid, search and rescue, blood to medical facilities in the capital and support to first responders. The American Red Cross is committing an initial $1,000,000 to the response operation and working closely with the Nepal Red Cross and the global Red Cross network to coordinate additional support. The American Red Cross has implemented disaster preparedness and relief programming in Nepal since 1999.
“I’m just trying to figure out someway to spread the message in St. Joe I guess,” Shrestha said.
In an effort to tell the story and get the word out Shrestha who’s majoring in Digital Media at Western worked with fellow student Gilbert Imbiri a Convergent Media major to produce a PSA talking about the disaster.
“Help out the bigger organizations like the Red Cross,” Shrestha said. “Bigger organizations that have already got a foothold of being able to help can do a lot right now.”
The Red Cross has approximately 19,000 non-food relief kits available in Nepal which include clothing, kitchen sets, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, and personal hygiene items. Nearly 1,200 tarpaulins have already been distributed to displaced families and the Red Cross is activating its logistics systems in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai to mobilize additional relief materials in the coming days. Total stock levels in the whole of Asia Pacific are sufficient to cover 50,000 families.
Donations can be sent or dropped by the American Red Cross office, 401 North 12th Street, St. Joseph, MO 64501. People can also contribute by texting NEPAL to 90999 to make a $10 donation, logging onto www.redcross.org or calling 1-800-REDCROSS.