North Shore residents are coming to the aid of the Nepali people still reeling from the recent earthquake, through local fundraising campaigns this month.
Sutherland secondary social justice teacher Cynthia Bunbury has teamed up with her husband, Brian Sheffield, who teaches at Handsworth secondary, to spearhead Nepal fundraising events at their respective schools and in the community.
The couple has a personal connection to Nepal, having travelled there numerous times in recent years, including two trips with Sutherland students seeking a cultural experience.
Just last month, Bunbury and Sheffield led an expedition to Nepal with 24 students from Argyle, Sutherland, Handsworth and Howe Sound secondary schools. The group returned to home soil within weeks of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25.
“I was quite shattered to find that so many of the people we have visited, worked with and had as staff were so deeply affected (by the earthquake),” Bunbury told the News this week.
After receiving word of the disaster, Bunbury and the students immediately sent messages by Facebook, email and text to find out if the friends they had recently made in Nepal were OK.
“We have heard from most that they are safe, but many have lost homes, businesses, animals, and livelihoods,” said Bunbury. “It will be a long time before they are back to normal.”
But not all of Bunbury’s Nepali friends escaped the earthquake unscathed. A village she visited two years ago was completely wiped out by a huge avalanche triggered by the quake.
“No one survived; it is so sad to remember the lovely children we played with, the bakery where we ate such delicious pastries in such a remote location, and its owner, a very proud and successful Tibetan man. The kind hotel owners, the mothers sitting in the sun with their babies . . . all of them died,” said Bunbury.
Numerous Nepal fundraising events are ongoing in North Vancouver until May 25 when all financial donations sent to registered Canadian charities will be matched by the federal government.
Bunbury and her team of students have organized a donation table at the Lonsdale Quay Farmers’ Market May 9 and grocery packing by donation May 16 at the Real Canadian Superstore in the Seymour area. Their month-long campaign culminates with a Celtic-themed concert at Sutherland on May 23.
The North Shore Filipino community, meanwhile, is collecting donations for the Red Cross at a Nepal relief telethon to be held at the Barangay North Vancouver Filipino Community Centre on May 15. It’s a chance for Filipinos to pay it forward to countries worldwide that came to their assistance after the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, says Alvin Koh Relleve, director of the Metro Vancouver Philippine Arts & Cultural Exposition Society.
“This is one way of giving back the generosity that was afforded to us when the Philippines was in need during that calamity,” said Koh Relleve. “I understand the devastation in Nepal is much worse.”
North Vancouver resident Elizabeth Leboe has been anxiously waiting for the latest news from Kathmandu, where she, along with her husband Len, operates Jackets for Jasper — a family-run enterprise that employs and supports local families.
Leboe imports the jackets, and money from the business pays for the education of two Nepali children. Jasper, the namesake of the operation, and his family were forced to move out of their damaged building and into a new place where the rent is exorbitant, said Leboe, who has sent the family emergency funds.
“It is raining, to add insult to injury — and the monsoon is coming,” said Leboe. “I don’t know how this country is ever going to recover from this.”
Nepal fundraising events
Here is a rundown of numerous Nepal fundraising events that are ongoing in North Vancouver until May 25 — the federal government’s cutoff date for matching Nepal relief contributions to registered Canadian charities:
May 9 — a Nepal information and donation table at Lonsdale Quay Farmers’ Market all day.
May 15 — a Nepal relief telethon, “Bangon Kathmandu,” will be held at the Barangay North Vancouver Filipino Community Centre. Donations can be made from 5-10 p.m. by calling either 604-773-6641 or 604-783-1272.
May 16 — grocery bag packing by donation at Real Canadian Superstore (333 Seymour Blvd.) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
May 23 — “Digging Deep” family concert at Sutherland secondary from 7-11 p.m., featuring North Shore Celtic Ensemble, Mark James Fortin Trio and other performers. There will be a no host bar and appetizers at the event. Entry is by donation (min. $10) and children under age 12 are free. For information, donations or to book your table, email:[email protected].
Ongoing fundraising events for Nepal:
Jackets for Jasper, run by a North Vancouver couple, supports families in Nepal. To donate to their fundraising campaign, go online to jacketsforjasper.com/products/j4j-earthquake-donate.
Victoria Burritt is a North Van resident currently in Kathmandu with the Youth with a Mission church group, based in Hawaii. The organization has started a fundraising campaign — gofundme.com/nepalneighbors — to assist families in one Nepal neighbourhood where homes are completely destroyed, there is no running water and children barely have anything to eat.
