8-year-old boy raises $26000 for Nepal earthquake victims

Kathmandu, May 11: An eight-year-old boy in the US has raised over USD 26,000 through crowd-funding to aid victims of the devastating 7.9 earthquake that hit Nepal.

After learning about the April 25 quake, Neev Saraf from Maryland asked his parents, who hail from Nepal, if he could send some money from his piggy bank there.

But it was not long before Neev enhanced his ambitions even further and set out to contact his friends and family to see if they would donate as well.

They reached out to the American Nepal Medical Foundation, with whom a crowd funding page was set up to expand Neev's philanthropic reach.

"Nepal where my family spent their childhood and is their motherland cries for help and support from everyone who can help out," Neev wrote on the website Crowdrise.

"Every time there is a new article, our heart skips a beat as the death toll keeps rising and recovery operations are still needed, and many place are still in need of rescue team to arrive," Neev wrote.

"100 per cent of the contributions raised will be given to reputable charities, who are currently working selflessly in Nepal. With my heart full of sorrow I have decided to start this relief effort by donating my personal piggy bank which has USD 384," he said.

Neev and his team has so far collected USD 27,276 in total, with Neev raising USD 26,675 alone.

The April 25 quake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale has so far claimed over 8,000 lives and injured more than 16,000.

PTI