Overwhelming Support for Nepal

I feel overwhelmed with gratitude by the outpouring of support from friends, family, colleagues, and students. Thanks to you, we received about a dozen boxes and two dozen bags of donations!  Not all of it was completely appropriate clothing, so some of it will be donated to local homeless shelters.  That said, the vast majority will be going to Nepal.  
We had so much stuff I had to call in reinforcements, and had to move to a larger location.  Thanks to my friends and family, we got it all done in one day.  It didn't seem possible, but between the sorting, and the packing tips from J, we got it done! 

Six hours later, we had two dozen boxes.  It was tiring, but was well worth it!  We will be bringing nearly 500 POUNDS of blankets, clothes, shoes, and outdoor gear for adults, children, and infants.  These will be going to Karma Flights, who will distribute them to people in the Ghorka district--the region most impacted by April's earthquake.  They too are very grateful for your support.

The packing crew relaxing after a hard day's work.

We will also be supporting the start-up of a business selling solar lights while we are in Pokhara. We will be working with Empower Generation, and will set up a young woman whose family we have been sponsoring to send their girls to school since 2009.  Still, we are hoping to more than just them; we are hosting a training for about 20 locals in hopes to get more solar lights, and lessen the dependency on kerosene, petrol generators, and candles.  Safe, reliable electricity is hard to come by for all Nepalese, but these solar lights will help change that. It will also mean that children can do more homework!