How to Help With Nepal Earthquake Relief

Photos via Instagram

Hundreds of people have been killed by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday morning. The death toll has topped more than 4,800 as of Wednesday, April 29, and continues to rise according to sources, as search and rescue efforts are underway in Kathmandu and across the country.

Designer Prabal Gurung, who was born in Singapore and raised in Nepal, is asking people to donate to his organization, Shikshya Foundation Nepal, to help provide medical support, search and rescue services, emergency shelters, and food and water to local populations.

"People are still trapped under collapsed buildings in Kathmandu," Gurung wrote in an open letter, "and there is no way to accurately guess how many are in need throughout the other cities and thousands of villages at this time."

Your donations will go through Gurung's organization, which will distribute funds accordingly based on the latest needs on the ground. Located between India and China, Nepal is one of the most progressive countries in Asia for LGBTQ rights -- it recognizes a "third gender" for its transexual citizens, has a gay pride march, and a powerful same-sex marriage advocacy movement.

So far, more than $20,000 have been raised.
CLICK HERE to donate.

Diane von Furstenberg went to Nepal with Gurung in 2012.

“He and his family welcomed me and showed me around,” she recalled in a CFDA blog. “Nepal is a wonderful country with highly educated people. Unfortunately, the political situation seemed to be confusing. I did however visit the many old monuments and neighborhoods that illustrated the splendor of the past. When I called Prabal yesterday, as soon as I heard the news, he told me that all of that is gone…floored! That on top the the thousands of dead people. Today, there were more tremors. It is a nightmare.”

RELATED | RUBIN MUSEUM DEDICATES ITSELF TO NEPAL RELIEF