Active Adventures’ Non-profit Arm Provides Direct Relief Efforts on the Ground
Queenstown, NZ — Founded earlier this year, Active Hearts Himalaya began as the non-profit extension of tour operator Active Adventures. Recognizing a real need for support in Nepal – a destination in which Active Adventures offers tours – Active Hearts was born, aiming to provide assistance in the village of Gogane, located approximately 100km north of Kathmandu.
Offering guests the travel experience of a lifetime, Active Adventures delivers adventure vacations to New Zealand, South America and the Himalayas, and is dedicated to preserving, and celebrating, the unique cultural heritage of each destination. Prior to the devastating earthquake on April 25th, Active Adventures’ senior guide in Nepal, Dan Keys, founded Active Hearts Himalaya to further support the Nepalese people, hoping to return the kindness and generosity these guides and porters have shown him and the wider team.
While Active Hearts has been dedicated to, and originally began in hopes of, raising money to build a new school library in the village of Gogane, all resources have since been channelled toward immediate relief efforts following the earthquake. Home to about a thousand families, including twelve of Active Adventures’ guides and porters, the village’s newly constructed school library had been one week out from opening before being destroyed.
The newly developed non-profit has already begun making headlines, including this New Zealand primetime video coverage. Of the organization, Keys says, “We are a grass roots, front line aid team focused directly on those that count, as they are family to us. We are not bound by politics or red tape and are sourcing all our relief directly from the ground, giving a much needed boost to the now collapsed economy.”
Active Hearts is currently focusing on emergency shelter, food, water, sanitation and medical assistance. A relief team, including Keys, additional Active Adventures guides, porters and a small international team of volunteers, is on the ground now.