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Traverse City foundation raises money for Nepalese woman left homeless with 48 children

Utopia Foundation
48 Nepalese children are living in tents and with very little food or water as aftershocks are expected to continue.

A foundation in Traverse City is sending money to a children’s center in Nepal. The money goes to a woman raising 48 children in Katmandu. They are left homeless and sleeping in a field after the earthquake.

There will be a fundraiser at the Traverse City State Theatre Wednesday, May 20. The theatre will show "Waiting for Mamu," followed with a live Skype from Nepal with Pushpa Basnet and film producer Thomas Morgan.

Paul Sutherland says, because banks are closed in that country, the Utopia Foundation had to hand-deliver cash.

“I want to make sure those children are able to survive this and are fed and safe. And that means you’re trying to act as fast as we can,” he says.

The foundation has already sent $25,000 dollars and fundraising continues, with matches availablefor a number of donations, including those from Rotary clubs and schools.

Sutherland says no amount is too small.

Credit Utopia Foundation
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Utopia Foundation

“If a student at schools raises five dollars through a bake sale, we’ll match it another five dollars – that’s 10 dollars,” he says. “That makes a very significant difference. I don’t think people realize that.”

Sutherland says that can go toward high-protein foods for the children. He also says all donations raised go directly to the children’s center and not to foundation expenses.  

The Utopia Foundation has been fundraising for years for the Early Childhood Development Center, where Pushpa Basnet takes in Nepalese children who would otherwise be living with their parents in prison. Their parents are incarcerated and there is no social service system to care for them.