'Walk for Nepal 2012' campaign launched in the US

Nepal ko Yuwa (NKY)-- a global Nepali youth movement-- officially launched the Walk for Nepal (WfN) 2012 campaign at Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on Sunday.

Representatives from partner organisations and potential walkers attended the meeting where the redesigned website www.walkfornepal.org and a short promotional video was unveiled. Walker registration and sponsorships will begin on August 1, 2012 for Boston, Dallas and New York.

The first Walk this year will be held at Carson Beach area in South Boston on September 22. This will be followed by Dallas (October 20) and New York (November 3). This is the second year the event is being held in Boston. Last year, 300 people raised close to $20,000. This year, NKY hopes to mobilise about 1,500 people in three cities to raise around $100,000 for various charitable organisations. NKY is a
501 (c) (3) registered non-profit organisation in the US.

Walk for Nepal seeks to leverage the networks and net worth of growing Nepali population in the US and around the world to make meaningful contributions to the needy communities in Nepal. By bringing together numerous organisations involved in social causes in Nepal, the organisers hope to increase awareness of the exemplary work that many people and organisations are doing for Nepal and build a culture of civic collaboration among these organisations. The other core principles of WfN are practical philanthropy and youth innovation.

Organisers envision that in the long-term, this movement will fundamentally impact the way Nepalese and friends of Nepal think about Nepal through this common platform of collaboration, learning and contribution to Nepal, thus developing a positive attitude about how Nepalese can support their country no matter where they live.

More than a dozen social cause organisations including Adhikaar, Ama Foundation, Ama ko Ghar, Animal Nepal, Early Childhood Development Center, Empower Dalit Women of Nepal , Friends of Maiti Nepal, Ghar Sita Mutu, Grassroot Movement in Nepal, Help Nepal Network, Himalayan Healthcare and Nepalese Children’s Education Fund will participate in the Walk this year and mobilise their supporters.

NKY will channel 80 per cent of the funds raised by partner organisations back to the partners to spend on their projects in Nepal. The partner organisations will contribute 20 per cent of the funds into a common ‘Walk for Nepal’ fund. In collaboration with the Association of Youth Organisations - Nepal, this Fund will be used to award popularly voted social-cause projects in Nepal through the WfN website.

NKY makes all financial statements available in the Walk for Nepal website www.walkfornepal.org. nepalnews.com