Bay Area charity providing quick aid to earthquake-stricken Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal (KGO) -- Some families in earthquake-stricken Nepal have shelter tonight thanks to a Bay Area charity that's been flooded with generous donations.

The Nepal Youth Foundation has spent years slowly winning the battle against malnutrition and child labor in Nepal. But after the earthquake on April 25, they shifted their mission and asked people in the Bay Area for help.

Now that help is paying off in a big way.

Last week, the nearly 90-year-old founder of the Nepal Youth Foundation made a request. "We're going to need a lot of money and the money will be put to good use, not just to good use but immediately," Oldga Murray said.

The foundation that helps kids in Nepal eat right and go to school is now run by one of the very young men that Murray helped years ago.

PHOTOS: Inside the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake

Nepal Youth Foundation President Som Paneru just learned they've raised over $400,000 for earthquake relief, much of it from here in the Bay Area.

"We are so thankful to our donors. It is unprecedented," Paneru said.

Though their focus remains on kids, their mission for the moment has changed.

Villages near the quake's epicenter have been nearly wiped out and families need shelter.

"Every single household is completely destroyed, like flattened. And maybe 10 percent you can see some roofs," Paneru said.

Along with food and cooking supplies, the foundation brought tarps and tents, with more on the way.

But they're also doing what they do best, caring for young people, at a day care center they've set up in Kathmandu.

"So that the parents can send the children away so they can spend more time in sorting the mess in the house, the broken house," Paneru explained.

Next, they'll set up similar centers in other badly damaged parts of the capital.

About 60 staff members and scores of volunteers are working 18-hour days because they're racing against time.

"The monsoon is going to hit within the next five weeks and then the situation is going to be extremely bad," Paneru said.

Tarps won't withstand the rainy monsoon season, so they're working on sturdy tents and corrugated tin roofs.

All the while, they're doling out money to hospitals to treat injured patients faster and find shelter for those who've recovered.

Click here to donate to the Nepal Youth Foundation.

Click here to find out how you can help the victims in Nepal, and click here for full coverage on the devastating quake.