Nepalese Community in Canada Continues to Respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic
The Nepalese community in Canada formed a national level comprehensive fundraising committee as soon as
the Covid-19 virus emergency was declared as a pandemic in March 2020. This committee is led by the
Non-Resident Nepali Association, National Coordination Council (NRNA-NCC) Canada. It comprises
representatives of various community-based associations and some active community members. It is also
supported by Nepal Embassy and Honorary Consulate General Offices (Toronto and Calgary) in Canada. NRNA
NCC Canada organized a virtual conference for the second time today to take stock of the progress made to
date and discuss the ways forward. It was chaired by joint coordinator of the Pandemic Relief Fund Mr. Naba
Gurung, and hosted by NRNA-Canada General Secretary Mr. Pitambar Bhattarai. General secretary Mr.
Bhattarai and Treasurer Saroj Bhattarai presented progress and financial reports at the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Ambassador of Nepal to Canada Mr. Bhrigu Dhungana, NRNA-Canada President
Chiranjibi Ghimire, NRNA-ICC secretary Gouri Joshi, Honorary Council members; Dhundi Raj Pandey,
Abhimanyu Basnet, Chandra Rai, Pramila Basnet, ICC Members; Gopi Krishna Kaphle and Tulsi Sapkota, RC
Rajan Tripathi, DRC Ram C. Pokhrel, Nepali Community based organizations representatives, Help Desk
Coordinators, well-wishers, donors, community leaders, NRNA Canada’s advisors, & past and present
directors of NRNA NCC Canada. The meeting noted regrets from Coordinator Dr. Kunjar Sharma, and Deputy
Coordinators Nima McElhinney and Ashish Bhattarai, and thanked them for their continued guidance and
support. Joint-Coordinator Mr. Gurung and President Mr. Ghimire responded to various questions and
comments, and also appreciated the generosity of all donors & feedback of the participants.
During the rapid response phase from March to date, the committee raised over $35,000 (received +pledged
amounts, excluding in-kind donations) and expended over $9,000 to purchase PPE and grocery items to
support the community members, including international students and newcomers/visitors. Twelve
institutional and individual donors provided in-kind support which were distributed to needy members in the
community through various volunteers. For example, Khalsa-Aid; and Ontario Sikhs & Gurudwara Council has
already donated 230 packages of groceries and the distribution will continue in the GTA and surrounding
cities on a bi-weekly basis. International students in the GTA, London, Barrie, Sudbury etc. have already been
reached out and the students from other cities too are in the process of assessment. An Memorandum of
Understanding has been signed with Child Haven International to facilitate charitable tax receipts to the
Address: 2900 Eglinton Avenue East, Scarborough, ON M1J 2E4
www.nrnacanada.org Email: info@nrnacanada.org Toll free number: 1 800 627 9026
Non-Resident Nepali Association
National Coordination Council (NRNA – NCC), Canada
interested donors. Support via Child Haven will be exclusively for international students, and NRNA-Canada is
in the process of following due diligence to satisfy the charitable requirements of Child Haven. Saigon Park
Mississauga & Classic Nail & Spa (Vietnamese Community) initially donated 500 sanitizers and ten thousand
gloves. In addition, five hundred sanitizers and Two thousand masks were purchased and distributed in
British Columbia, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Manitoba, Western Ontario, Scarborough and Toronto.
Around 400 international students have registered so far with NRNA-Canada and the embassy, and their
needs are being assessed. In addition, NRNA NCC Canada created an online page asking all visitors to
complete a form to facilitate return of the visitors back to Nepal. It has also been notified that the data will be
shared with Nepal embassy, Nepal Government and NRNA.
Some infected members of the community have also come in touch with the committee and they may be
offered support on a case by case basis. Because we are dealing with an uncertain situation and our
resources are limited, today’s meeting focused on finalizing a guideline to move forward. Actions related to
information sharing via NRNA-Canada FRONTLINE LIVE SHOW program and publishing a guide to access the
government benefits were praised by the meeting participants.
The committee is thankful to all donors (cash and in-kind), supporters and volunteers and continues to
encourage everyone to get involved in whatever ways possible. Much of the updates are available on the
NRNA-Canada Facebook page, and further details on donations received, expenses incurred, and the
assistance offered will be shared publicly as the response continues. We are all together in this and are
stronger together!
News release NRNA Canada COVID 19 k