With the tragic earthquake in Nepal earlier this week, I have been thinking a lot about the older adults in the area who are affected. My husband is currently doing his PhD on satellite imaging for disaster response and he probably is getting tired of me repeatedly redirecting conversations towards aging issues in his field 🙂

I came across several AARP articles on elderly and disaster relief after the Haiti earthquake in 2014 and thought it was timely to share it in light of the recent earthquakes. By the way, you can check out the latest earthquakes through this site.

When disaster strikes, older people face unique challenges that are often neglected, if not overlooked entirely. While many organizations are set up to meet the needs of children and younger adults, they are often ill-equipped to address the distinct needs of older people. Unfortunately, seniors are too often relegated to the sidelines, their plight undermined by their age, desensitizing others to their value along the spectrum of life.

Want to make a difference? Great! Check out AARP Foundation’s Emergency Fund page where you can directly donate to help the elderly in Nepal after the earthquake.

EMERGENCY: Help older victims of the Nepal earthquake – all gifts matched up to $225,000

On April 25, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal and neighboring countries with devastating force, killing thousands of people, injuring thousands more, and causing widespread destruction.

AARP Foundation has created a relief fund to help the victims of this disaster – especially the 600,000 people over age 60 who are expected to be affected. There is strong evidence that seniors experience disproportionate harm in the aftermath of natural disasters, and the impact for older people in Nepal is likely to be severe.

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