Many Blue Jays leave the nest and choose to pursue careers in service-related fields or become involved in nonprofit work.

Bhim Thapaliya ’15 is one of those Elizabethtown College alumni living “Educate for Service.”

Thapaliya founded the nonprofit Act for Humanity (AFH) in 2014 to help refugees in Lancaster County adjust to life in the United States.

Thapaliya himself is an immigrant from Nepal with illiterate parents and found learning a new language and culture challenging when he and his family moved to the U.S. in 2010.

“I wanted to do something I would have benefited from,” Thapaliya said.

AFH helps refugees through English as a Second Language (ESL), career counseling and mentoring programs.

Their student mentoring program helps high school and college students from Nepal prepare for college.

Many Nepali refugees find research projects and presentations difficult because of the language barrier and lack college or career advising, so AFH steps in and provides that advice and mentoring, according to the AFH website.

In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal and killed about 8,900 people and left over 800,000 others homeless, according to the Mercy Corps website.

Thapaliya returned to Nepal and said he was overwhelmed by the amount of need that the people had.

Because of this, AFH started a scholarship program for first to fifth grade students in the Dhading school district of Nepal.

The scholarship funds pay for uniforms and school supplies. Thapaliya said he wanted to support future engineers, doctors and business leaders who could help in times of need like after the 2015 earthquake.

After the first two years, the scholarship program began to run out of funds, so Thapaliya founded a benefit corporation called Nepali Spice Company to supplement donations and continue helping Nepali students.

A benefit corporation is like a nonprofit in that its main goal is to have a positive impact on society, but unlike a nonprofit, it is a for-profit organization and makes a profit.

“It’s a solution to a problem,” Thapaliya said. “It benefits people. That is why it’s called a benefit corporation.”

Nepali Spice Company sells custom spice blends made by Nepali refugee women and uses the profits to fund AFH and its scholarship program.

Nepali Spice Company also strives to empower Nepali women in the United States and Nepal.

To this end, Nepali Spice Company only buys its spices from a partner company in Nepal that hires impoverished women and offers fair wages and skill and financial development programs, according to the Nepali Spice Company website.

Furthermore, Nepali Spice Company hires Nepali refugee women in Lancaster County to make their spice blends.

They pay the women fair wages and offer on-the-job skills training and ESL classes to help them adjust to their new life in the United States, according to the Nepali Spice Company website.

While at Etown, Thapaliya received support for AFH and Nepali Spice Company. He won the Paul M. Grubb Jr. Student Peace Award in 2014 and received $2,000 to expand AFH’s programs.

He also received the Entrepreneurship Scholarship, which awarded $4,000 and professional mentorship for one year.

As a biology major, Thapaliya said he learned the majority of how to run a nonprofit through experience rather than in class.

He said he took one entrepreneurship class which was helpful but that most of his experience came from helping organize and coordinate programs outside of class.

While at Etown, Thapaliya was involved in ESL classes and other programs for refugees off-campus. On-campus, he was a Diversity Team coordinator and an international peer ambassador.

Thapaliya also gave advice to current Etown students considering starting their own nonprofit or benefit corporation.

“It’s a great opportunity to help others, but it is a lot of work,” Thapaliya said. “You have to be very passionate.”

David Nagel ’15 helps Thapaliya and also volunteers for AFH and Nepali Spice Company as an accountant and financial advisor.

If you want to learn more about AFH or Nepali Spice Company, visit https://www.afhfoundation.org/ and https://www.nepalispice.com/.