It’s been only a few short weeks since the blog post asking for support for Nepal was posted. In the midst of a tragedy in which more than 8,000 lost their lives, you, the community, responded by going above and beyond our goal of $185,000 (the amount we raised 5 years ago for Haiti) donating over $145,000 and $110,129 to Direct Relief and MAP International, respectively. Each organization has done an AMA (here’s Direct Relief’s AMA + MAP International’s AMA) and has some updates to share on what has been achieved so far.
Unfortunately, with a new 7.3 magnitude earthquake hitting Nepal the morning of May 12th, this will most likely make relief efforts even more difficult—so any donations are crucial and even more appreciated by both Direct Relief and MAP International.
As of May 5th, thanks to reddit’s support, Direct Relief was able to ship 50 medical supply pallets directly to Nepal. In addition, reddit’s campaign generated more than $145,000 of donations to Direct Relief’s earthquake response efforts, and redditors now comprise 30% of the 10,000+ donations received for Nepal so far. Because of reddit’s support, Direct Relief was able to:
- Confirm the donation of a humanitarian charter for Nepal.
- Work with Nepal’s Ministry of Health on ordering US$260,000 worth of materials. The supplies are currently being driven from Delhi to Kathmandu.
- Deliver 118,771 lbs of medical supplies to Nepal over the weekend of May 9th, distributed to local health facilities throughout the country—with this particular shipment containing 6.2 million defined daily doses (DDD) of medications that include antibiotics, antivirals, heart and diabetes medications.
- Providing emergency airlifts to help deliver high-volume, high-value materials, such as generic medications that have been donated.
- Continue to provide financial support to existing partners: Direct Relief is supporting the urgent requirements of existing partner organizations, including OneHeart and the hospitals with which Direct Relief has already been working on emergency obstetric care. These partners focus on women and children’s health, and because those particular people were already among the more vulnerable in Nepal, continuing to support these programs is crucial.
MAP International as of May 7th has received more than $110,000 of support from redditors—which has enabled them to:
- Ship 30 MAP Medical Mission Packs to Nepal, capable of treating 6,000+ people.
- Send an IEHK (Interagency Emergency Health Kit) to Nepal for the International Medical Corps that has supplies capable of treating 10,000 people for 90 days as of Friday May 8th—with 3 additional IEHKs being prepared now and heading to Nepal in the coming days.
- Ship 6 pallets of oral rehydration salts to combat dehydration, as well as multiple container shipments of antibiotics and other essential relief items for long term recovery.
- Utilize MAP's current medicine supplies on the ground in the areas at the center of the crisis, at Sheer Adventist Hospital and Mobile Medical Clinics near the epicenter.
We’ve also had redditors who have been affected by the Nepal Quake share their stories through AMAs ranging from Nepal native Amrit to an Earthquake survivor caught up in the Langtang Trek.
Thanks to the reddit community, we’ve made a huge difference.
But we’re not done yet. If you want a 100% cotton, wearable reminder of your support for the campaign, you can obtain a custom redditors for Nepal limited-edition thank-you shirt from our own /u/YoungLuck here—the proceeds are going to be split 50/50 between Direct Relief and MAP International: http://www.redditorsfornepal.com/
On behalf of MAP international, Direct Relief, and so many other incredible organizations that you as a community have given to and that are continuing to respond to this ongoing crisis --thank you!
