Asking for Help for Rossland Family Loss & Travel

My dearest friend and colleague Cheryl Forrest and her three children have suffered a tremendous loss that no family should ever have to experience. On Feb 6th, 2023 there was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that affected multiple cities in Turkey, one of them being Adiyaman. Cheryl’s husband and the father to her three children, Midrap, and 24 members of their family and counting were killed in this tragedy.

Cheryl was born and raised in the West Kootenays, and as a young adult had met her husband from Turkey and then moved to Turkey for 13 years. Cheryl worked as a schoolteacher teaching English and raised her three beautiful children in Turkey. Cheryl and her family survived an attempted coup (which is a violent government seizure) and left Turkey 5 years ago to give her children a better life and more opportunities and a safer environment, while her husband had to stay to care for their extended family.

More family members' bodies are being found as days, pass and the family is in tragic loss.

Cheryl and her sons, Elias, Omar, and her daughter Mary Zozan have lost their husband and father, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and many friends.

I am reaching out to our communities looking for support for Cheryl to be able to stay home with her children and not have to worry about financial stress as she has been living on a single income in Canada. Cheryl and her children will need to travel back to Turkey when it is deemed safe to be able to support their family and manage the losses that have taken place.

Cheryl is one of the kindest, and most hard-working individuals that I have had the pleasure of knowing and her dedication to helping families and children in our area is endless, and I would love to see that support come back to her.

Thank you, everyone.

Organized by Family Friend - Chantelle Drouin