BGR Staff
A monk inspects damage at Svayambhunath Temple. Photo: Narendra Shrestha—EPA
On Saturday, a massive earthquake of 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal with devastating force close to the capital, Kathmandu. The death toll from the earthquake has already passed 4,000, and many more people living in remote regions are feared dead and injured. Tens of thousands have been rendered homeless, without food and water, and close to a million children in affected areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
While Buddhist Global Relief is not a disaster relief organization, the BGR board has provided an emergency donation of $10,000 to support the relief efforts. The donation has been evenly distributed among five relief organizations: UNICEF, CARE, Direct Relief, Oxfam America, and the International Medical Corps.
People wishing to contribute to the relief efforts should donate directly to reputable agencies and organizations working on the ground. Here are several suggestions:
The Nepal Red Cross Society is the epicenter of the relief efforts and is a direct way to help the people of Nepal. Here is its online donation link; please note that their website connectivity is on and off, so you might not be able to get through.
The American Red Cross is working with the Nepal Red Cross to coordinate additional support. You can help by selecting Nepal Earthquake Relief on their donation page.
CARE is on the ground and preparing to provide temporary shelter, ready-to-eat meals and water purification and latrine construction. You can learn more about their relief plans here or go directly to their donation page to help.
Direct Relief is preparing and delivering medical resources to local health facilities that are seeing patient surges for quake-related conditions. They are also working with medical companies to secure additional supplies as needed. You can help these efforts with an online donation.
Oxfam International is working to help provide clean water, sanitation and emergency food for those affected by this disaster. Donations can be made via Oxfam America.
International Medical Corps is on the ground coordinating their response and sending additional staff and resources to support relief efforts. You can support the Nepal Earthquake Response online, or by texting MED to 80888 to give $10.
UNICEF is working with the government and other partners to meet children’s immediate needs in water and sanitation, protection, health and nutrition. You can help by donating online.
For more suggestions see the CNN report: “How to help victims of the Nepal earthquake” by Christopher Dawson, Sunday April 26, 2015.
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Charles W. Elliott
csprater
mhfein11
BGR Staff
Buddhist Global Relief 
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https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes
can we trust Red Cross ?
But notice that the Red Cross was not one of the five organizations that BGR supported.