Larne Rotary Club joins forces with Islandmagee company for Nepal appeal

The local group has sent three “shelter boxes” through the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland scheme.

The shelter boxes contain many weeks’ worth of basic necessities such as a disaster relief tent, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, mosquito nets and children’s activity pack.

One of the shelter boxes will be on display in the Post Office at the Book Nook. The Rotary Club is also appealing for the public’s help to deliver more boxes to help the Nepalese people rebuild their lives.

Donations can be made at The Post Office or Inver Garden Centre or to any Rotarian.

The President and members of the Rotary Club of Larne would like to thank the public for their generosity to Rotary in aiding this worthy cause.

Meanwhile, Islandmagee woman Jane Prendy and her Nepalese husband Rishi, who run the company Namaste Nepal, will donate the £501 raised from their stall at Saturday’s Leukaemia and Lymphoma Fair in Whitehead to the nunnery where her 77-year-old mother Marita is working in Nepal.

Jane commented: “We are a very small not-for-profit company selling silk slippers, handbags, purses and brooches.

“The items are made by collectives of women’s groups in Nepal in a social enterprise scheme.

“Traditionally in Nepal men are the breadwinners but when women are making money they reinvest it back into the family which gives them empowerment and helps the whole community.”

Jane says she hopes that local people will continue to support the relief effort in Nepal. She stated: “People are so generous and it’s really great to see them donating to the appeals.

“A lot of money has been raised by organisations such as the Red Cross, and the public can donate to the organisation my mum is working with at livetolove.org.”

Jane and Rishi will be fundraising at the Curio Plum Craft and Gift Fair on Saturday May 9 at the Loughshore Hotel, Carrickfergus from 11am-3pm