USA (Commonwealth Union)_ Indian American NGO Sewa International Houston’s AmeriCorps team sent nearly 200 cartons of relief supplies to the victims of the tragic earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which claimed the lives of over 46,000 lives. The NGO organized a weekend donation campaign to collect necessary supplies for families affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6. People from diverse Houston neighborhoods joined together and contributed hundreds of goods that amounted to more than 200 boxes.
In collaboration with the National Association of Christian Churches (NACC), Sewa AmeriCorps sent these items to both Turkey and Syria. Manju Gupta, the former president of Sewa International, contributed products to the campaign and described the initiative as a great effort. This required extensive preparation, effort, and commitment to complete. The Sewa International and AmeriCorps team deserves huge applause for their donation. Sewa International has also launched a fundraising campaign on Facebook for earthquake victims, which has raised around $15,000 so far.
Volunteers from Food For Life (FFL), a partner organization of Sewa International, began relief work in earthquake-stricken regions of Turkey, providing around 800 to 1,200 meals per day in communities around Antakya in Hatay Province. According to Kira Reyna, a Sewa-AmeriCorps member and team leader of the campaign, “I am completely overwhelmed with gratitude at the response we have received from the community, especially considering that this drive was announced on Monday and took place on Saturday. The amount of love, compassion, generosity, and sense of community that came from this event was just incredible, and I’m overjoyed to have been a part of it”.
Following the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey, a number of countries have offered assistance to both Turkey and Syria in their rescue and recovery operations. Many nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are sending relief supplies and search and rescue personnel to Turkey to assist in the hunt for earthquake survivors. Thousands of structures in Turkey and neighboring Syria were destroyed by the huge earthquake and several powerful aftershocks.
