When Rakshya Dahal first heard about the earthquake it was hard for her to leave her house without knowing whether her family in Nepal was safe.
“I was trying to reach my family, but everyone was trying to reach their families so the phone lines were busy for a while,” says Dahal, who immigrated to Altoona from Nepal in 2002.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 8,800 people and injured more than 23,000 in late April.
Dahal’s son plays in a State College youth soccer program. When his teammates heard about the tragedy, they wanted to help in any way they could.
“I called [Rakshya], just to see how she was doing and her family was doing. She was very emotional on the phone,” says Holly Torbic of State College, whose two sons are also soccer players. “I told her we just had to do something.”
As a result, the State College Celtics and the Soccer Shots, two youth soccer clubs, are holding a bake sale and soccer tournament to benefit American Red Cross relief efforts in Nepal.
The days following that April earthquake were an emotional time for the Dahal family. Rakshya and her husband Shail consider themselves very lucky. Family members in Nepal are all safe but some of their houses were declared unsafe. They were forced to live outside for two days until they could move in with another family member.
“Just imagine for all those people who lost everything in the span of a minute or two,” Dahal says. “How do you ever overcome that? They lost their families and everything. That’s what has been hard.”
It was that empathy that inspired Dahal and Torbic to start a fundraiser for the victims in Nepal.
“Initially we wanted to do a bake sale right in front of the Corner Room. But we play soccer, so why don’t we combine it,” Torbic says. “We can do a bake sale, but put on a soccer tournament because that’s what our kids love to do.”
Torbic and her two sons, who also play on the Celtics, spread the word about their club’s fundraiser. At Coral Street Elementary School, where Torbic’s sons are students, classmates were able to raise $845. That money will be donated at the fundraiser.
Dahal says her son, Shushant, is very close to his grandmother in Nepal, and he was thrilled that friends on his soccer team are coming together for a great cause.
“He felt that this was a very good way to help. He is very honored to be on the team, and for the team to come together and do this for Nepal it was very touching for him,” Dahal says.
The Soccer for Nepal event will be held on Thursday at the State College Alliance Church, 1221 W. Whitehall Road.
The bake sale begins at 4:30 p.m. and at 6 p.m. Dahal and a representative from the American Red Cross will speak. The soccer tournament will start at 6:30 p.m. The tournament is open to everyone of all ages.
Donations will be accepted throughout the evening. Checks should be payable to the American Red Cross with “Nepal Relief Fund” noted on the memo line.
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