Danu's Nepal School Rebuild Project
Donation protected
UPDATED ON 6/22/15
Hi. My name is Eric O'Neal and I'm helping raise money for a special coworker. Danu Sherpa is helping those in Nepal impacted by the large earthqukes that hit in April and May of this year.
Yesterday was a big day for the campaign. King5 News ran their second story on Danu, and after a few days of gathering his thoughts, Danu has expressed his desire to build a school for kids in Katmandu. The donations received from this point on will go toward this primary goal. He will no longer use donated funds for his family, 17 adopted kids, or the 3 elderly and 1 partially paralyzed person he is helping. He has decided to personally fund these people from his own income.
The vision for the school is in its infancy. He sees it being big enough for five class rooms that can hold up to 100 students. He is targeting kids 10 years of age and under. He estimates it will cost $25,000 -$30,000, thus the large increase in the funding goal. In the coming days and weeks we will refine the vision and perhaps seek out professional assistance with plans and drawings. We are also investigating the possibility of creating a non-profit organization to formalize this effort. While there are many details to work out, I am confident in Danu's ability to get things done. If he says it is going to happen, it will happen.
So...it is a time of transition. The initail goal of "Dollars for Danu" has been reached, and then some. Now we set our sights on the new goal. I'm excited to be a part of it and will assist Danu in anyway that I can.
Goal ONE Recap:
For those of you who don't know Danu let me share a little bit about him. I've worked with him as a member of the City of Redmond Park Operations work group for about 15 years. He is a special individual who comes to work with a smile on his face and works harder than most. He has been working on our Irrigation Crew for many years and is often knee deep in the ground fixing the expansive irrigation system throughout the parks. He is one of the good guys.
The originl stated goal of this campaign was to generate adequate funds for Danu to take care of his surviving family members needs and assist with his efforts to aid the children impacted by the quake. He was considering heavily tapping into his retirement funds at heavy penalty to do everything he can in Nepal in the short term. The fundraising effort has delayed this action and I hope we are able to give him what he needs so his retirement funds stay intact.
So what did he use the early donations for? His accomplishments and experiences in Nepal were many. Surviving a close call at the airport, he eventually made his way to his large family residential building. This is more like an 5 story apartment building than a house, which he had built over 25+ years and accomodated roughly 70 people. He found the building standing, but his family was not inside, they were huddled outside not knowing what to do. Danu met up and assessed the situation and asked about his adopted kids. He received word that six of the kids had been taken to the hospital. He headed there immediately and found a mass causalty scene that was indescribable. He never found his kids, but couldn't leave the hospital as there were so many in need of medical attention all over the place. He helped the injured for hours before heading out. Without any sleep he made it back to his other family members and his sister said they needed to go to his other sisters house. When they arrived he saw a completely collapsed structure and his sister said his other sister and three kids were in the house, buried under the brick and concrete rubble. It took 12 hours of hand digging, but Danu recovered the bodies of his sister, her two children, and one of his adopted kids. He then took care of the funeral services and then focused his efforts on improving his family's living situation. The inital Dollar for Danu donations made it to him via Western Union and he started buying tarps, bamboo stakes, tents, matresses, sleeping bags, food, water, and medical supplies. Things were rough in the Katmandu and waterbourne disease spread...food and water shortages took hold. On May 12th a 7.3 magnatide aftershock hit while Danu was in a government building registering his family members. People were scrambling out the door and as Danu reached the threshold a massive piece of concrete collapsed inches behind him, killing two men instantly. Afraid and shaken, Danu gathered himself in the days that followed and he began efforts to build three semi-permanent shelters to accomodate between 30 and 40 people. He began to hear stories about the area hit hardest by the large aftershock, which is where another sister lived in a remote village. No word had come out of the village since the aftershock, so he mounted an expedition to find them. He rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle and brought a few men along to assist. I large infusion of donated money came just before he left so he had that on him as he travelled into the mountains. After 4 days of treacherous travel, he reached the remote areas in the mountains and he saw extensive devastation. He handed out $150 in cash to people whose houses had collapsed in the area as he made his way to his sisters village. He estimaes he helped between 20 and 25 families that had lost everything. When he arrived in his sisters village he was happy to find his family members alive and well. There was a heavily damaged monastery in the village and he saw the monks were devastated by the damage they sustained. Danu had sold his motorcycle and used the remaining Danu Dollars and gave almost $1000 to the monks so they could start rebuilding. He returned to Katmandu with his sister's family and worked on the three shelters. He rented a room in a house so that he could put three elderly people that were not getting any care along with a 49 year old partially paralyzed woman into a safe and comfortable place. He now pays for the rent, food, water, and minor medical costs for these people. At some point he paid for metal roofing for two school structures that were damaged, and there is probably more that I haven't heard about yet.
He spent all but about $500 of the money raised while he was in Nepal and did an amazing job prioritizing needs. He says the number of people he helped was well over a hundred, and he couldn't have done it without those who donated. To me it is just amazing what he has done...and is why I fully support him moving forward.
Let's build a school and change lives. Give what you can...every litle bit will help.
I thank you for considering a donation to Danu to help the children of Nepal.
Eric O'Neal
Hi. My name is Eric O'Neal and I'm helping raise money for a special coworker. Danu Sherpa is helping those in Nepal impacted by the large earthqukes that hit in April and May of this year.
Yesterday was a big day for the campaign. King5 News ran their second story on Danu, and after a few days of gathering his thoughts, Danu has expressed his desire to build a school for kids in Katmandu. The donations received from this point on will go toward this primary goal. He will no longer use donated funds for his family, 17 adopted kids, or the 3 elderly and 1 partially paralyzed person he is helping. He has decided to personally fund these people from his own income.
The vision for the school is in its infancy. He sees it being big enough for five class rooms that can hold up to 100 students. He is targeting kids 10 years of age and under. He estimates it will cost $25,000 -$30,000, thus the large increase in the funding goal. In the coming days and weeks we will refine the vision and perhaps seek out professional assistance with plans and drawings. We are also investigating the possibility of creating a non-profit organization to formalize this effort. While there are many details to work out, I am confident in Danu's ability to get things done. If he says it is going to happen, it will happen.
So...it is a time of transition. The initail goal of "Dollars for Danu" has been reached, and then some. Now we set our sights on the new goal. I'm excited to be a part of it and will assist Danu in anyway that I can.
Goal ONE Recap:
For those of you who don't know Danu let me share a little bit about him. I've worked with him as a member of the City of Redmond Park Operations work group for about 15 years. He is a special individual who comes to work with a smile on his face and works harder than most. He has been working on our Irrigation Crew for many years and is often knee deep in the ground fixing the expansive irrigation system throughout the parks. He is one of the good guys.
The originl stated goal of this campaign was to generate adequate funds for Danu to take care of his surviving family members needs and assist with his efforts to aid the children impacted by the quake. He was considering heavily tapping into his retirement funds at heavy penalty to do everything he can in Nepal in the short term. The fundraising effort has delayed this action and I hope we are able to give him what he needs so his retirement funds stay intact.
So what did he use the early donations for? His accomplishments and experiences in Nepal were many. Surviving a close call at the airport, he eventually made his way to his large family residential building. This is more like an 5 story apartment building than a house, which he had built over 25+ years and accomodated roughly 70 people. He found the building standing, but his family was not inside, they were huddled outside not knowing what to do. Danu met up and assessed the situation and asked about his adopted kids. He received word that six of the kids had been taken to the hospital. He headed there immediately and found a mass causalty scene that was indescribable. He never found his kids, but couldn't leave the hospital as there were so many in need of medical attention all over the place. He helped the injured for hours before heading out. Without any sleep he made it back to his other family members and his sister said they needed to go to his other sisters house. When they arrived he saw a completely collapsed structure and his sister said his other sister and three kids were in the house, buried under the brick and concrete rubble. It took 12 hours of hand digging, but Danu recovered the bodies of his sister, her two children, and one of his adopted kids. He then took care of the funeral services and then focused his efforts on improving his family's living situation. The inital Dollar for Danu donations made it to him via Western Union and he started buying tarps, bamboo stakes, tents, matresses, sleeping bags, food, water, and medical supplies. Things were rough in the Katmandu and waterbourne disease spread...food and water shortages took hold. On May 12th a 7.3 magnatide aftershock hit while Danu was in a government building registering his family members. People were scrambling out the door and as Danu reached the threshold a massive piece of concrete collapsed inches behind him, killing two men instantly. Afraid and shaken, Danu gathered himself in the days that followed and he began efforts to build three semi-permanent shelters to accomodate between 30 and 40 people. He began to hear stories about the area hit hardest by the large aftershock, which is where another sister lived in a remote village. No word had come out of the village since the aftershock, so he mounted an expedition to find them. He rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle and brought a few men along to assist. I large infusion of donated money came just before he left so he had that on him as he travelled into the mountains. After 4 days of treacherous travel, he reached the remote areas in the mountains and he saw extensive devastation. He handed out $150 in cash to people whose houses had collapsed in the area as he made his way to his sisters village. He estimaes he helped between 20 and 25 families that had lost everything. When he arrived in his sisters village he was happy to find his family members alive and well. There was a heavily damaged monastery in the village and he saw the monks were devastated by the damage they sustained. Danu had sold his motorcycle and used the remaining Danu Dollars and gave almost $1000 to the monks so they could start rebuilding. He returned to Katmandu with his sister's family and worked on the three shelters. He rented a room in a house so that he could put three elderly people that were not getting any care along with a 49 year old partially paralyzed woman into a safe and comfortable place. He now pays for the rent, food, water, and minor medical costs for these people. At some point he paid for metal roofing for two school structures that were damaged, and there is probably more that I haven't heard about yet.
He spent all but about $500 of the money raised while he was in Nepal and did an amazing job prioritizing needs. He says the number of people he helped was well over a hundred, and he couldn't have done it without those who donated. To me it is just amazing what he has done...and is why I fully support him moving forward.
Let's build a school and change lives. Give what you can...every litle bit will help.
I thank you for considering a donation to Danu to help the children of Nepal.
Eric O'Neal
Organizer
Eric O'Neal
Organizer
Renton, WA
