If you’re looking for a way to help in the midst of the tragedy unfolding in Nepal head over to Crowdrise. Kathmandu-based outdoor apparel manufacturer Sherpa Adventure Gear has created an earthquake relief fund called “Help Sherpas Help Nepal”. One hundred percent of the funds raised through the campaign will go to relief efforts in villages where Sherpa Adventure Gear underwrites the education of Sherpa children through its charitable Paldorje Education Fund.

In a letter from Kathmandu, Nepal, announcing the fundraising effort, Tashi Sherpa, founder and CEO of Sherpa Adventure Gear, wrote:

Dear friends,

Thank you for your kind words following the devastating earthquake of April 25th.

As we gather our wits and resources to respond to this catastrophe, here’s how you can take action.

Please visit the Sherpa Adventure Gear site to make a donation:

https://www.crowdrise.com/helpsherpashelpnepal

100% of your funds will go for immediate relief on the ground through our Paldorje Education Fund network-already set up to benefit the children of Sherpa families in remote villages.

With each day, the death toll rises, along with the need for water, tents, and medicine.

We believe this is the wisest way to bring support where it does the most good, working through our contacts in each community.

This is not the kind of adventure anyone seeks, but we are determined to see it through, no matter how long it takes.

Thank you for standing with us and giving what you can.

Sincerely,

Tashi Sherpa and the Sherpa Family

Sherpa Adventure Gear has been inundated with concern, prayers and thoughts since the earthquake struck. The earthquake left more than 5000 dead and millions without shelter and basic necessities. SAG and its facilities in the Kathmandu valley, however, were spared.

In an April 28^th email from Kathmandu, Tashi Sherpa wrote, “Sitting here in the Sherpa building creates a disconnect and a false sense of security but one only has to go half a mile to know the harsh reality.”

Sherpa and his colleagues have arranged for immediate supplies of tarps, water purifiers, sanitary supplies and more to be brought in from India by road. It has also appealed to its network of contacts in the greater subcontinent region to supply what they can in the way of urgently needed water, health and sanitation supplies and temporary shelter.

“There is much we can do together to help,” Sherpa added. “We can reduce the pain of the present and help to ease the future for those who need to see hope.” The link for the campaign is https://www.crowdrise.com/helpsherpashelpnepal.

Utah’s national parks attendance is on track to meet or break last year’s record, so says a report recently issued by the NPS. That must mean at least some parts of the beehive state benefited from the ridiculously warm 2015 winter.

People flocked to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument and Pipe Springs National Monument long before the usual May visitations. In fact it looks like the national parks attendance will break the record set by the more than 5.2 million people who visited Utah’s national parks in 2014. We’re talking a 19 percent increase in visitor spending and an 11 percent jump in total visitors.

The statistic matters because it translates to an estimated $336.8 million for Utah and 5,000 jobs. Zion alone brought in $172.2 million in 2014. “From Timpanogos Cave National Monument to Canyonlands National Park, the national parks of Utah draw more than 10.5 million visitors a year from across the country and around the world,” said Sue Masica, director of the NPS Intermountain Region, which includes Utah and seven other states. “Whether they are out for an afternoon, on a school field trip or crossing America on a family vacation, park visitors come for a great experience — and they end up spending a little money along the way.”

Visit Utah has relaunched an oldie but goodie national spring campaign from 2013 to continue to drive traffic to the parks. No sense in spending taxpayer money on a new campaign when the red rock in them and the Mighty message is timeless.

The NPS revenue will hopefully go back into the park system to address the estimated $11.5 billion backlog of repairs and renovations to maintain roads, trails and park facilities. In Utah specifically, there are about $278 million worth of projects hanging in the wings.