For her first trip out of the country, Laura Handy-Nimick of Lake Tapps visited the mountainous Asian nation of Nepal to volunteer at a home for orphans.
During her time there, Handy-Nimick lived at a hostel, staying with the children at the Nepal Orphans Home, many of whom had been rescued from slavery.
“I shared a room with 14 8- to 16-year-old girls,” she said.
But even when she left Nepal, she found that the images of the poor children she met never left her.
“When I came home, I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” she said of the region’s poverty and need.
Handy-Nimick, a school teacher in Bethel, said the level of poverty facing children in Nepal was unlike anything she’d ever seen.
“As a teacher we see need all the time,” she said. “But when I went to Nepal, the amount of need there is humbling.”
When she returned to the States, Handy-Nimick, who said she has always been interested in community service work, decided to help the children at the Nepal Orphans Home. When she and her husband Justin Nimick married in 2010, her new brother-in-law bought the couple a website to show off their charitable work.
Handy-Nimick decided to combine her passions for education and service and use the website to help provide for the orphans in Nepal. By October 2010, Life’s Handy Work was up and running, raising money for Nepal.
On New Year’s Eve, the charity will host its second New Year’s Ball for Nepal. The theme for this year’s event is Hollywood.
“It’s a red carpet affair,” Handy-Nimick said. “Essentially, we’re giving people a reason to dress up for New Year’s.”
Last year’s theme was “Black and White” and the Ball was the chairty’s biggest-earning fundraiser so far. This year, Handy-Nimick said she hoes to sell out the event, which is being hosted at High Cedars Golf Club in Orting.
Handy-Nimick said she while she is focused on helping orphans in Nepal, she hopes her charity work can be an inspiration to others to work on causes that impact their lives and move them to action.
“You can be one person and make a huge difference,” she said.
Tickets for the event are $75 and include heavy appetizers, drinks and party favors. For more information or to purchase tickets to the event visit www.lifeshandywork.com.
