Earthquake donation: Chicago groups gather funds, supplies, medical aid for victims in Turkey, Syria
Syria-Turkey earthquake has left over 7,200 dead
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The race to help the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria extends all the way to Chicago.
Rescue crews are racing to find survivors in the earthquake rubble.
The death toll is now over 5,000.
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Over 24,000 emergency personnel are now on the ground.
As the death toll continues to rise, local Turkish organizations in Chicago are doing everything they can to help.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake has already claimed the lives of more than 7,200 people in Turkey and Syria.
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Monday's earthquake brought down thousands of buildings, and, as rescuers were frantically looking for survivors, their efforts were impacted by temperatures below freezing and some 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures difficult.
The president of Chicago's Turkish American Cultural Alliance is visiting family in Istanbul, and she is scrambling together whatever help she can.
"I'm kind of stuck in Istanbul and trying to reach out to people in Chicago, my colleagues and friends, to organize the help that we can," said Vildan Gorener, president of the Turkish American Cultural Alliance. "It is worse than what you can imagine."
In Chicago, loved ones worry and wait.
"A friend's brother-in-law, they are trying to communicate with him. They learned his building was totally destroyed. They are hoping he was saved," said Ryan Uysaler of Embrace Relief Foundation Chicago.
The co-founder of Chicago area-based MedGlobal said he had about 100 people working on the ground before the earthquake.
Now they, too, are trying to wrangle donations to get relief quickly.
It's the middle of winter in Turkey, and most people in the earthquake zone are now homeless.
The Turkish American Cultural Alliance in Chicago is asking for donations of winter supplies to send to the region as quickly as possible.
One local doctor is asking the Chicago medical community for their help.
"We've been in contact with staff and nurses on the ground, and they explain to us how dire the situation is," said Chicago-area Dr. Bassel Atassi, president of the Syrian American Medical Society's Midwest chapter.
His team of 1,000 doctors and medical staff has been on the ground in Syria for years, but their responsibilities have now shifted from general medical care to emergency relief efforts.
"SAMS, they do have now currently 36 facilities in northern Syria. They became the front line for all injured coming from the earthquake," Atassi said.
Video from the doctors on the ground report they are in desperate need of medical supplies. The earthquake destroyed some of their hospitals, leaving even some members of the medical staff homeless and living in their cars in below-freezing conditions.
Dr. Atassi is reaching out to medical companies in the Chicago area in hopes of getting supplies donated. He plans to send them out to Syria and Turkey.
IQRA Education Foundation collecting donations in Skokie
Volunteers at Skokie's IQRA Educational Foundation helped sort and box donations that have poured in since Monday. The first truckful was picked up by the Turkish consulate earlier on Tuesday.
"No matter who they are, they are someone's mom, someone's dad, someone's loved one," volunteer Seda Yazgan-Hadzibulic said.
Yazgan-Hadzibulic's mother, father and sister live in one of the impacted areas. They are now homeless, but safe.
"I tried to reach them very quickly," Yazgan-Hadzibulic said. "After I heard they were OK, I was somewhat relieved but my pain is so huge, it's hard to explain."
"We are here to show them we are with them," said Huseyin Colak, with Turkish American Religious Foundation. "I know this is not going to relief their wound, their loss."
Huseyin Colak's family is safe in a different part of Turkey, but some of his loved ones have been impacted.
"We have friends. They are OK. Some lost their houses. But still they are fine," Colak said.
Across the border in Syria, the situation is, if anything, even more desperate. The rebel-controlled, war-ravaged region depends on aid from Turkey, not their own government, and the borders are temporarily closed. Many of the aid workers already stationed there are now displaced themselves.
"I am in Idlib City but today I moved today," said Dr. Mustafa Aledou, with MedGlobal. "I moved from Idlib with my parents to live in a camp near the Turkish/Kurdish border."
Dr. Mustafa Aledou works for MedGlobal, a Chicago-area medical non-profit. He, along with others on the ground, has been delivering aid to local hospitals struggling to keep up.
"To provide them with diesel and fuel to operate the electrical generators because no electricity in all hospitals," he said. "The conditions are so bad. And all the people are afraid and worried."
This particular donation spot, located at 7450 Skokie Boulevard, will be open until around 8 p.m. Tuesday night, but they will be here for the remainder of the week. Winter clothes, tents, blankets, diapers and dry food are the main things being collected.
"We are collecting medical supplies in the community from hospitals, clinics and private practices, and we are trying to ship them as soon as possible to the area affected by the earthquake," Atassi said.
Six thousand buildings have collapsed in Turkey alone, and, with the death toll on the rise, the need is great.
