The Student Association sent an email Wednesday highlighting resources to assist earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
The SA referred students in need of support to the CARE team and Counseling and Psychological Services, and it linked to 10 organizations accepting donations like Turkish Philanthropy Funds, the Syrian American Medical Society, the Bridge to Türkiye Fund and a UNICEF fund. The outreach follows a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria Monday and comes as the reported death count surpassed more than 11,000 deaths Wednesday.
“Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference,” the email reads. “Your support will provide resources desperately needed such as food, shelter and medical supplies.”
The email also links the Union of Medical Relief and Care Organizations, Save the Children, CARE’s Türkiye and Syria Earthquake Fund, the anti-poverty advocacy organization Oxfam and Global Giving Türkiye and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund, which all accept online donations. The email also links the Turkish Embassy in the District, which is accepting monetary donations as well as blankets, tents, sleeping bags, winter clothing and labeled, over-the-counter medications.
The email also said the GW Turkish Association will collect monetary donations, coats and blankets in Kogan Plaza from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. “the rest of the week.” GW Turkish Association also accepts donations online via Venmo, according to their Instagram.
The earthquake is one of the deadliest to hit the region in the last 100 years, according to the United States Geological Survey. On average, fewer than five earthquakes of this magnitude hit the Earth per year.
Turkey has experienced seven earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude or greater in the last 25 years, but none have been as powerful as the one that struck Monday. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported that in Syria, more than 6.9 million people were displaced inside Syria after the Syrian civil war ravaged much of the country.