Two ''Eds'' are better than one, or so the saying goes.
Five-dollar notes bearing the portrait of Sir Edmund Hillary are the symbol of a ''Put your Eds together'' fundraiser to help Nepal.
Inspired by Sir Edmund's humanitarian work, the Otago University Students' Association is collecting ''Eds'' for the number of days it took Sir Edmund and his climbing companion Tenzing Norgay to conquer Mt Everest.
Fundraiser participants gathered at the Otago Museum Peace Pole this week to take stock of the money raised so far.
Co-ordinator Paul Gourlie unravelled a Sellotaped ribbon of $5 notes showing the number of ''Eds'' collected.
More than $1500 had been raised since the campaign was launched on May 4, he estimated.
While the amount was well short of the $50,000 target, Mr Gourlie was ''quietly confident of more funds coming'' in the next few weeks as he takes the fundraiser nationwide.
Mr Gourlie is travelling to Christchurch tomorrow morning to speak to groups about raising more funds. He has planned to visit Auckland next and also spend some time in the Waikato area.
The campaign is just one of many fundraising efforts across Dunedin to raise money for Nepal following the devastating earthquake on April 25.
One thing the funds will go towards is a $21,000 generator for Anandaban Leprosy Hospital.
Leprosy is rife in the region due to crowded living conditions and locals' poor immune systems.
University of Otago chaplain the Rev Greg Hughson said there was a ''particular connection'' between the university and Nepal, as there were several Nepalese students on the student roll.
Dunedin doctor Niranjan Sharma, who is Nepalese, said he was ''so proud'' of the huge communal effort it made his ''heart flutter''.
''I haven't seen such a human effort shown to Nepal.''
Donations can be made directly at the OUSA office on campus and also via givealittle.co.nz/cause/ousaappeal.
