Last month, The Local introduced you to the owners of the East Village Cheese Shop, Tibetan refugees who attend rallies in support of their homeland’s independence and regularly send funds to their family there. The Cheese Shop isn’t the neighborhood’s only link to the Himalayas: Just a block away at The Three Jewels – the Buddhist community center at 61 Fourth Avenue – a lama and some of his students are raising money for the neediest inhabitants of Nepal.

Hector Marcel and his volunteers are aiming to raise $108,000 to offer education, health, and housing to 108 homeless beggars in Nepal. For five months, the 108 Lives Project has been organizing fundraisers such as a recent one at the Yippie Cafe where a silent auction of donated items brought in $4,000. While planning its next event in February, the organization is partnering with Quilts for Kids Nepal to sell quilts made by poor Nepalese women.

Watch The Local’s video to hear more about the project.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 19, 2011

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this post misidentified the country in which the intended recipients of the 108 Lives Project’s funds reside. It is Nepal, not Tibet.