All this past week, the Turkish American Association of Northern Texas worked around the clock to collect donations to get much-needed supplies to people impacted by the disastrous earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
In a matter of days, volunteers hustled to sort, box and transport thousands of donations from North Texans.
Thursday night, a flight took off with nearly 20,000 pounds of supplies, such as winter clothing, canned food, baby items and personal hygiene items. Another flight was planned for Friday night as well.
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"The outpouring of help and donations, such as the magnitude of what you see behind me was an effort from all of Dallas-Fort Worth," said Erdal Sipahi, in front of a Turkish Airlines Cargo plane.
Sipahi, who is president of TURANT, said it took an army of people in North Texas to make this happen. Everything from people donating warehouse space for donations, to others offering semi-trucks to transport the items to the airport.
Turkish Airlines and Turkish Cargo will continue to help transport the donations to the region.
Where to Donate
- Garland: 2525 South Shiloh Rd. Suite 200, Garland (M-F: 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.)
- Downton Dallas: 3907 Elm St, Dallas, (M-F: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.)
- Motif Tile Inc. 3225 Skylane Dr. Suite 125, Carrollton (M-F 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.)
What to Donate
- Unused winter clothing for babies, kids and adults
- Unused scarfs, beanies, socks and underwear
- Unused winter gloves and warmers
- Unused sweaters, pants
- Unused winter boots, moon boots
- Four-person tents & cots
- Winter blankets
- Baby bottles, formula, diapers, clothes
- Nonperishable foods
With many international groups on the ground in Turkey and Syria, some say monetary donations can help aid those organizations with the relief efforts.
Click here to learn how to help.
