The devastating earthquake that struck Nepal Saturday has prompted rapid international response to aid the millions of people affected. Thousands of people were killed, with the death toll changing daily, and up to 8 million Nepalese are estimated to be impacted. Shelterbox USA, a disaster support non-profit that is rooted in Rotary volunteerism, immediately dispatched a team to Nepal upon learning of the quake. They will establish a plan for distribution of ShelterBox kits, which allow people to “shelter in place” by providing necessary supplies. Shelterbox kits include a tent, water purification system, solar lamp, blankets, and other basic needs supplies to help people who have been left with nothing after a disaster. Yardi was contributed to Shelterbox in the past, including after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Often, the organization will seek to distribute its relief efforts in rural, hard to reach areas far from the more accessible urban centers, which are plentiful in the mountainous country of Nepal. Shelterbox was prepared in advance for a Nepal response effort, with prepositioned tents ready to go in case of an emergency. Yardi employees and corporate charitable giving program will combine to contribute funds in support of Shelterbox’s Nepalese efforts. The company supports more than 80 non-profit organizations and worthy causes each calendar year. ** Just two months ago, Yardi CSD manager Terry Kelly and his wife Pam took the trip of a lifetime to Nepal, where they assisted with a two-day medical outreach organized by Project for a Village. It was a powerful experience in an remote agricultural area with limited health care resources, Kelly recalled. Kelly said that the epicenter of the earthquake was located close to the foothill valley where the medical team had gone to work with local residents. The 7.8-magnitude quake,...

Yardi CSD manager Terry Kelly and his wife Pam took the trip of a lifetime to Nepal this spring, but they weren’t on a typical tourist agenda. Instead, the focus of their visit was to volunteer at a pop-up health clinic, called a Health Camp, in the foothills of the Himalayas. The two-day medical outreach was organized by Project for a Village, a non-profit started by Kathy and Rene Perez-Silva. Terry Kelly and Rene Perez-Silva attended college together at Georgetown, and since the couple began their trips to Nepal four years ago, the Kellys were interested in lending a hand. After 22 hours of flight time (including 5 layovers) and wrangling 400 pounds of luggage that included medical supplies, they arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. “We carried over 250 pounds of vitamins and de-worming pills to distribute to the mothers of the small children (enough vitamins for a year’s supply for each child). We also took multiple duffel bags full of essential medicines to treat the common complaints,” Terry Kelly explained. Prenatal vitamins and a health outreach project focused on preteen girls were also distributed. “Many Nepali people become dependent on foreign aid groups coming to their village to provide free doctors and medicine through health camps,” Kathy Perez-Silva relates in the Project for a Village blog. “The shortage of doctors is severe and the pay is so low that most of the doctors want to leave Nepal after they finish school to work in the West.” During the two days of clinic visits, 1,000 people were treated by 16 doctors, with assistance from nurses and translators. Many of the ailments were routine, including aches and pains from physical labor in the fields, and digestive discomfort connected to poor nutrition and spicy food. Up...