A message from PS20 parent, Isil Alexander:
On Monday, February 6th, at 4:17 am local time, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook Turkiye and Syria, followed by another earthquake of 7.5 magnitude and more than 2,000 aftershocks of varying magnitudes. 10 cities in southeastern cities in Turkiye were severely damaged by the earthquake, including my hometown of Iskenderun, Hatay, where the largest number of people lost their lives.
As of February 14th, more than 30,000 people lost their lives, 100,000 people were injured, and tens of thousands of buildings collapsed across Turkiye. An estimated 200,000 people remain trapped under rubble, and many of those who have survived are struggling to meet their basic needs. The affected regions are home to an estimated 13.5 million people, including as many as 2 million refugees, primarily from Syria. Thousands of people are still waiting for their loved ones under the rubble to be rescued with not much hope left on day 7 of the disaster.
There is an urgent need to support the relief work going on on the ground to ensure that survivors and first responders receive critical resources, including food, housing, medical aid, water, and psychosocial care. Rebuilding these cities will take years, and we need funds to get that done.
We kindly ask our fellow PS20 community to consider donating to Turkish Philanthropy Fund (TPF), a US-based, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)organization. Your contributions will go to TPF-vetted NGOs that are directly involved in all the affected cities to help victims recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and rebuilding efforts. Your gifts are tax-deductible.
Please donate at https://donate.tpfund.org/fundraiser/4444169
We are grateful for your support.
Isil Alexander
Along with Bedirhan Cinar, Fatima Fidan