Marcie Tyre Berkley and Forrest Berkley, two generous donors with a deep-rooted love for Nepal. 

Reaching Out to Nepal

One Couple's Story of Support

“I choose to help Nepal,” Forrest Berkley says, “because the needs there are so acute, and the circumstances are, for me, heart-wrenching. Nepal is home to many of the Earth's grandest mountains, which have drawn me to this tiny country, as has the friendliness of the people, despite their poverty. I visited Nepal for the first time 35 years ago and fell in love with the country. I’ve now gone trekking there 15 times and, even before the earthquake, had developed a deep desire to do something for the people.”

While Marcie Tyre Berkley, has only been to Nepal once, her interest in the fate of women and children gives her a unique connection to Save the Children’s work.

“After an academic career, I became a Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University,” she explains. “I also became involved in several organizations devoted to helping women and children in need. All of this has made me deeply aware of how terribly vulnerable far too many women and children are.

“My own mother was an 8-year-old child living in Vienna when Hitler came to power. If many individuals had not extended aid to her family – sometimes at significant risk to themselves – she would have perished.

“At a time like this,” Marcie continues, “when the headlines from Nepal are beginning to slip off the front page, leaving so many children and their parents in desperate circumstances, we simply have no right to turn our backs. Instead, we need to reach out and extend every bit of aid we can.”

“Contributions to Save the Children – whether of $10, $100, $1,000 or $1,000,000 – will absolutely save lives and address misery in the wake of this devastating earthquake. That’s why Marcie and I have given the largest single gift of our lifetimes. We hope you will join us to make a difference for the children of Nepal," Forrest said.

Asked why he and Marcie chose Save the Children as the recipient of their generosity, Forrest’s answer was simple and direct. “You’ve been there for 40 years,” he said. “You have 450 people in the country. You take a multiyear approach, rather than just worrying about the first few months. And you have a very strong reputation for effectiveness.

“There are desperate scenes in Nepal now of people begging for food, water, shelter from the approaching monsoon rains and surgery for broken bones. By focusing on children and running programs that look to restore normalcy to their lives, not only today, but for years to come, Save the Children will make an enormous difference to the most vulnerable victims of this disaster.”

Forrest Berkley spent 20 years with the global investment management firm GMO. He retired in January 2006 and now serves on the board of the TIAA-CREF mutual funds. Forrest’s philanthropic work focuses on innovation in land conservation for threatened landscapes in the U.S., the Andes and the Himalayas. He is a board member of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, a former director of the Appalachian Mountain Club and serves on the investment committees of several nonprofits.

Marcie Tyre Berkley is a Scholar at Brandeis University's Women's Studies Research Center, where her research and writing focus on feminist mothering and the cultural issues affecting mothers in America. She previously taught Management of Technology at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Production and Operations Management at Harvard Business School.