STAFF and service users of the KARE Service in Athy raised almost €3,000 for the aid effort which is underway following the Nepal earthquake.

The coffee morning was held to help raise funds for “Take on Nepal”.  Willie Devitt, a local man from Barrowhouse Athy who recently retired from KARE, has strong links with Nepal and visited the country himself in January.

His daughter Susan and her husband Som Tamang have been working with the Friends of Himalayan Children charity in Cairns Australia. Susan and Som are involved in the building of a school and an orphanage but on Saturday morning the buildingswere destroyed in the earthquake.

“My daughter Susan and her Nepalese born husband Som work together for the charity. The charity does a lot of work in a village called Batsae which is up in the mountains over Kathmandu. The charity has an orphanage and a school. When the earthquake happened both were destroyed. There was also a newly built orphanage which was ready to move into and that’s gone too. Amber, a brother-in law of Susan was killed in the earthquake while returning to the village with paint for the new orphanage which was to house 100 teenage girls.”

Mr Devitt says that 10 people in the village died while several including some of the children from the orphanage were injured.

As the village is in dire need of financial assistance to help them rebuild the future opf those who live there all money raised will go to Batsae and its people.

The community of Athy, the Dominican laity and local businesses were thanked by the organisers of the event for their supporting the event. Further donations can be made by contacting KARE Athy local services, Woodstock Street or phone 05986 38613.