Wondering how to be part of Nepal earthquake relief? Here are some options

There are two ways a tragedy usually pans out. We let it ruin us or we rise from the ruins. The recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake has scourged Nepal, leaving its people blighted, helpless, and homeless in their own homes. Let’s help Nepal become the proverbial phoenix that rises from the ashes.

Sitting in front of your laptop reading the news? Browsing on your cell phone or tablet? Have five minutes? There is a lot you can do. Here’s how:

You can donate your time and money

Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund is for Indian citizens in Nepal and for kin of those killed due to the earthquake. PM Narendra Modi has announced Rs 6 lakh compensation for kin of those killed, and a compensation of Rs 50,000 for those who have been seriously injured in the Nepal earthquake.  

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has sent staff members from Brussels, Amsterdam, and Delhi. Medical supplies are being sent from Bordeaux, France. As of April 29, MSF had 61 staff members in Nepal. Follow @MSF_USA and @MSF_Ind on twitter for live updates. If you’re a doctor who wants to volunteer for Nepal, sign up here.

If you’re in Nepal and wish to volunteer for Friends Service Council Nepal (FSCN), a Nepalese NGO with over 20 years of experience in supporting disaster relief efforts for disasters in Nepal, sign up here.

Oxfam country director Cecilia Keizer stated that Oxfam was “preparing to help provide clean water and emergency food.”

Support Unicef and help Nepal keep their children safe. UN world food Programme is trying to manage food scarcity that Nepal is facing right now.

Click on Red Cross Nepal to donate. They are a voluntary humanitarian organization to protect human life and health.

Donate to World Vision, they’re dedicated to making a better world for children. Children today, adults tomorrow. The children of Nepal need us today.

Donate on Ketto to help Nepal. Ketto was founded by Kunal Kapoor and Varun Sheth. Ketto has multiple Nepal related campaigns being run by some of our Bollywood brigade as well — Kunal Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Vir Das, Dia Mirza, and Nargis Fakhri, etc,.

Click here to donate to International Medical Corps today and Facebook will match your donation up to $2 million to contribute to local relief organizations. 100% of your donation will go to International Medical Corps and their work in response to the Nepal earthquake.

Click to donate to The American Nepal Medical Foundation, Goonj, Save The Children, Mercy Corps, Direct Relief, Global Giving, Shikshya Foundation, Crowdrise, Care India, In Crisis Relief (doctors willing to volunteer, please register here).

Uday Foundation has a list of relief urgent material and medicines required in Nepal, the list is updated periodically. Keep an eye out for what you can help with.

Have woolen clothes to spare? Log on to Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust, they will come to pick up the clothes at your doorstep ( in Delhi).

Shoutout to these startups

Paytm will match your donation towards the earthquake relief.

Nurturing Green ran a sale on May 1 where the proceeds from anything brought from their store was donated to earthquake relief after being doubled via Paytm.

You can donate on the Ola app by entering the promo code “NEPAL”.  

For every missed call you give on 9590666222, Freecharge will contribute Rs 20 to the Prime Minister Relief Fund, and the caller will receive a free Rs 20 recharge voucher.

IdeaForge, a startup that makes drones, has deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle system, along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), to Kathmandu and other villages in Nepal for site surveillance to help with the rescue efforts.

Payment wallet Oxigen has offered 1% of its daily transactions as a donation to Nepal victims every day for the coming month.

Shopclues will match your donation up to Rs 15000.

Jombay, a talent assessment and analytics company is looking to fund travel plans along with medical and food supplies of 25 Nepalese watchmen in Pune so they can travel home to meet their families at the earliest.

Biggies with a big heart

Kudos to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). They have been sending food packets for the earthquake victims since April 26.

Facebook has created the Safety Check feature.

When disasters happen, people need to know their loved ones are safe. It’s moments like this that being able to connect really matters

Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. Go ahead, mark yourself safe if you were in the affected region, your loved ones will breathe a sigh of relief.

Google created the People Finder Tool, it allows you to look for someone or provide information about someone. The search is also available via SMS. Google has also setup a $1M relief package.

Apple placed a link on their iTunes and App Store which re-directed the users to Red Cross America’s donation site. The relief funds would be used by Red Cross to help Nepal.

Uber is running a campaign to help in Nepal in this time of need. The campaign is active till May 3^rd, 2015.

Related Read

What to do before, during, and after: Earthquake 101

Telcos taking charge

All BSNL calls from India to Nepal were considered as “local” from April 26^th to April 28^th. Aircel offered free calls to Nepal for their Indian pre-paid and post-paid customers, and waived off international roaming charges from April 27^th to April 28^th. Airtel declared all calls free within Airtel network from India to Nepal from April 25^th to April 27^th. Idea Cellular announced that calls made to Nepal would be charged at Rs 1 per minute. Vodafone slashed rates from Rs.12/minute to Rs 1/minute from April 27^th to April 28^th. All calls made to Nepal were charged at 1paisa/second by Tata DoCoMo. Videocon Mobile also slashed prices from Rs 9.2/minute and 90 paisa/ minute.

Help from the skies

SpiceJet has slashed base fare for flights to Kathmandu and has added special flights. They are also not charging for carrying relief material. AirIndia has also slashed base fares for flights to Kathmandu, they’ve also been flying relief material on priority.

We will keep updating this list with more details as and when we gather more information. If you want to write to us regarding this list or if you have crucial information, please reach us at [email protected]. We urge citizens to be sensitive to the needs of our neighbour and donate our time, money, and material generously. Let’s reach out with all our heart and might. Nepal, we got your back, you’re in our prayers and you’re not alone.