Turkiye Earthquake Relief

As you may know, on February 6th, two major and earth-shattering earthquakes hit 10 major cities in Turkiye - another earthquake following a couple of hours later, and they are having after-shocks every 5 minutes. The earthquakes not only lasted 135 seconds (the usual being 30 seconds at most), but their respective magnitudes were 7.9, 7.7, and 5.0+. Additionally, there are after-shocks every 5 minutes - expected to last AT LEAST two weeks. We have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, people currently under rubble. The death toll has hit at least 20,000, but they were only able to rescue 30,000 people - compared to the 13+ million people that used to reside in these cities. The roads to the cities are blocked, and the extreme weather conditions (temperatures below freezing level) have made it hard for Turkish citizens to survive not only the earthquake but the following aftermath. Even 4 days after the earthquake, there are fires unable to be put out due to the lack of fire trucks and people are yet still waiting to be rescued.

We are the Turkish student population here at UCF. We have talked with other schools within the Florida area, as well as universities across the United States. After talking with the 3 Turkish consulates in the States, we were told that the only way we could immediately help would be through fundraisers and donations. Clothes and supplies, as we were told, would take months to get there - and due to Turkish regulations, these items would have to be specific and new.

We need your help! We need your donations. Our plan is to collect donations across the United States. As of right now, we have collaborated with other Turkish Student Associations and have agreed to donate this money to AHBAP - a Turkish non-profit organization for disaster relief. We have our friends, Turkish/non-Turkish faculty members, and our Turkish friends from all over the country helping us. The main reason why we have started our donation rather than AHBAP's is to ensure we can get the most out of these donations - we are/plan to collaborate with companies that will match our donations. These donations will go to Hatay, Kahramanmaras, and the affected areas surrounding these cities.

Please help! Every single penny - or share counts. It has been 3 days, and people are still waiting to be rescued under rubble. Turkiye has declared a "Level 4" emergency, asking for international help. Our hearts go out to those that have endured such a horrible disaster - but we must take action.