A pair of young Nepalese girls

Giving back

Supporting disaster relief in Nepal

Apr 30, 2015

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal on Saturday, killing more than 4,000 people. The earthquake was the worst to hit the area in more than 80 years, and the death toll is expected to rise as aftershocks and avalanches continue and emergency crews work to find survivors. The impoverished Himalayan nation of 28 million is facing a humanitarian disaster and the Nepalese government has appealed for foreign help. TELUS has committed $100,000 to disaster relief efforts.

Lending a hand to those in need

As with most earthquake-related disasters, the most immediate needs are clean water, food, household supplies, temporary shelter and protection for children and families. UNICEF Canada, Plan Canada, Care Canada, World Vision and the Canadian Red Cross have all launched fundraising appeals to help meet the immediate needs of earthquake survivors.

TELUS has provided $20,000 in humanitarian grants to each of these responding charities to support their efforts on the ground in Nepal. We have also launched a special text-to-donate program with the Canadian Red Cross, enabling Canadians and our customers to help the Nepalese people recover from the disaster. Finally, we have donated 600 mobile phones to the staff of Plan Canada who are working in Nepal to assist children affected by the crisis. The phones are being used to provide psychosocial support and track data related to local challenges throughout this event.

Finally, to ensure all of our customers in Canada are able to connect with family and friends as often as they need, TELUS is offering free long-distance calls and texts to Nepal for the next two weeks.

Our collective thoughts are with all those affected in Nepal, as well as with team members and Canadians with family and loved ones in the country.