LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- Thousands are dead and even more injured after the earthquake in Nepal on Saturday.
Community members say around 1,500 Nepali and Bhutanese natives live in the Scranton area. They tell Newswatch16 it has been sobering seeing what has happened in Nepal.
Scranton resident Tek Panday lived in Nepal for 10 years.
"I think some of those buildings around where I was are no more," Panday explained. "I cannot see them next time I go there."
Before Panday co-owned Himalayan Grocery on Pittston Avenue in Scranton, he was a computer sciences teacher in Kathmandu. He's lived in the United States for more than four years, but still has plenty of family and friends back in Nepal.
"When I surf the internet and Facebook, [I used to] see them all online, but I don't see anyone online now so that's makes me very sad," Panday added. "It's not very easy to survive there once those buildings have fallen down because the streets are very narrow."
Just down the road in Taylor, people inside the New Covenant Fellowship Church are praying for the people they've been helping for the last ten years.
"Every month we send support to them and because of the earthquake they have there now, we have to raise funds to help them," explained the pastor, Dr. Joliam Sampaio.
Sampaio was in Kathmandu just last month and has visited Nepal 10 times in the last decade for missionary work and other help. Now, he says their support will need to be ramped up.
Money raised from selling tablecloths which were made in Nepal will go right back to helping those affected overseas.
"That's the only thing that's going to get in is money," said Peter Caligiuri, assistant pastor. "We can't ship supplies. We can't ship blankets. We can't ship clothing, not right now."
There will be a food festival at the New Covenant Fellowship Church in Taylor on May 2 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. where you can buy those tablecloths from Nepal to help earthquake victims.
The Red Cross has also set up ways to donate online.
