The Weekly Newspaper of Manhattan Beach Herald Publications - El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 Vol. 9, No. 6 June 4 2015 Inside This Issue Certified and Licensed Professionals...................6 Classifieds............................4 Community Briefs...............2 Film Review..........................4 Food.......................................5 Go Red for Women Luncheon Raises $219,000 to Battle Heart Disease Pets........................................7 South Bay Go Red For Women Luncheon chairwoman Lisa Garey chats with guests outside the ballroom before the start of the program. The Luncheon, which was a sold-out event, raised awareness of Weekend Forecast heart disease. Photo courtesy of American Heart Association. For more photos, see page 3. Local Resident Launches Fundraiser to Help Victims of Nepal Quake By Brian Simon When a catastrophe occurs in a remote part of the world, it can still hit close to home no matter where you happen to be located. Such is the case for South Bay resident Sudip (known to friends as Steven) Giri, whose native land Nepal continues to endure the devastating impacts of a devastating 7.8 earthquake late last month that killed at least 8,000 people, injured more than 18,000 others, and leveled much of the capital city Kathmandu as well as surrounding areas. In addition to countless aftershocks, a second major quake followed on May 12 with a magnitude of 7.3 that resulted in more than 40 additional deaths and over 1,000 injuries. Giri, who moved to El Segundo in early 2013, received a call from his mother shortly before midnight on April 25 telling him that his family house had been destroyed as a result of the quake from which she had barely escaped. “She was worried sick because she was not able to reach my brother who lived nearby,” he said. The quake’s epicenter was just 30 miles from Giri’s hometown of Ramkot. After several harrowing hours, Giri was relieved to learn that his brother had survived the quake. “He barely made it out alive from his office along with his three friends,” he said. “But not everyone was so fortunate. He also mentioned the names of six people whom I knew personally who had perished in the disaster.” With the cellular network down most of the time, Giri found it nearly impossible to reach his parents over the next couple of days. His dad finally called to report the family was sharing a canopy and food with a group of neighbors. During this period, heavy rains hit the area and the group had to fend off opportunistic looters. Giri’s family salvaged whatever they could of their belongings from the ruins of the house and stored the items in a neighbor’s home. “My house where I grew up and have all my childhood memories has been demolished,” Giri wrote on his blog nepalneedsnow.wordpress.com. “Although my home and neighborhood will never be the same, I am fortunate enough to have all my family members and loved ones alive.” The tragic stories coming out of Nepal spurred a number of Giri’s friends, former and current co-workers, and volleyball teammates (he plays five days a week at Recreation Park) to reach out to him. Encouragement from his manager at Gunthy-Renker (where he works as a member of the Business Intelligence team) inspired him to start a rebuild effort immediately. With the help of his long-time girlfriend Ankita Thapa, Giri established a Crowdrise website to launch a fundraising campaign first concentrating on the areas of Ramkot and neighboring New Baneshwor. The first $2,500 came in after just 24 hours and as of press time, the “Nepal Needs Now” effort had accumulated over $6,000. An additional fundraiser at El Segundo Middle School organized by the Hilltop Church collected $5,000 more last week, while co-workers and friends also amassed about $12,000 in donations. “We need even bigger support from El Segundo,” Giri said. “All donations no matter how small or big, are very much welcome.” The goal of the effort is to provide the survivors with basic needs to keep them safe and healthy until international aid organizations arrive, or until the families can relocate to more stable areas. Every dollar makes a huge difference in the lives of the impacted families of Ramkot, Giri noted. As an example, just under $3,000 was able to provide tents, mats, blankets, salt, rice, vegetables, oil, gas and a generator to support the basic needs of 10 families (52 members) in the neighborhood. “Restoring my neighborhood will take a significant amount of funds and even more support,” Giri wrote on his blog. “As such we have redoubled our efforts to share our story and, it is hoped, focus more attention on the tragedy in Nepal.” Giri was quick to credit Thapa for her steady support in the cause. “She has relentlessly worked on this fundraiser and has reached out to her friends at ITU [International Technological University] where she is working on her MBA in Bio Management,” he said. “She has been a huge inspiration and I couldn’t have gotten this far without her.” Giri grew up in Kathmandu and was valedictorian of his high school in the village of Bansbari. He and Thapa came to the United States separately eight years ago as international students attending University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. “We were both enrolled in the same English class and that’s where we met,” Giri said. The two started dating and both moved on scholarships to East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. After graduating in 2010, Giri next headed to Reading, Pennsylvania for a job at Wells Fargo in the IT department, while Thapa remained in school to complete her bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology. Giri later earned his MBA in Finance from Oklahoma Christian University. The couple moved to California in 2012. Prior to his current stint at Guthy- Renker, Giri worked for Cetera Financial See Nepal, page 2 Friday, June 5 Partly Cloudy 65˚/57˚ Saturday, June 6 Partly Cloudy 68˚/58˚ Sunday, June 7 Partly Cloudy 69˚/60˚
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