North suburban residents are helping to organize vigils and donations, including clothing and medical supplies, for those affected by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that wreaked havoc across Turkey and Syria Feb. 6.
Hatice Savas, a physician and member of Morton Grove’s Muslim Education Center and mosque (MEC), said much of the relief effort is taking place in coordination with the Turkish Consulate General in Chicago.
On Feb. 9, the Turkish American Society of Chicago held a vigil for earthquake victims at its center in Mount Prospect, said Hasan Ali Yurtsever, director of Huddled Masses, which he described as a nonprofit human rights organization that has since 2016 been aiding those escaping political uncertainty in Turkey.
Yurtesver estimated about 5,000 Turks live in the Chicago area.
Savas, of Glenview, is one of them, having lived in the U.S. since 2004. Most of her family is still in Turkey, and she has friends and relatives in the affected area, who she said are physically safe but otherwise completely disoriented.
Her cousin and his wife, both teachers, had to flee their building in the city of Hatay in the middle of the night in pajamas, she said. They were luckier than many, however, because they were able to drive out of the city to reach family in a different part of the country.
“They are safe, but they have no idea what’s going on,” she said.
Savas said her brother, also a doctor, is helping with rescue and relief efforts.
Not being closer to where the help is needed is very hard on Savas.
“You do have to be thankful you’re not there;… On the other hand you are so destroyed,” she said.
Some of the organizing efforts is coming from the MEC Women’s Committee, where “some of the leaders are collecting money and buying from Walmart, Costco — brand new stuff and they’re bringing it to donation centers,” she said.
Savas noted that the MEC runs contribution efforts for many different causes and said she hopes other organizations will follow suit.
“They offered to help; we didn’t ask them to help,” she said.
The Turkish Consulate in Chicago and AFAD, the Turkish disaster and emergency management agency, are coordinating much of the humanitarian response throughout Chicagoland.
The Turkish American Religious Foundation and the Turkish American Cultural Alliance are collecting money, clothes, medical supplies and other essentials like diapers to send to people whose lives were upended by the quake.
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“This time it happened to Turkey but we don’t know next time where it’s going to happen,” Savas said. “It can happen anywhere, anytime. So they should treat the people over there like how they would want to be treated if this happened [here].”
Chicagoans and suburbanites with donations can bring items to the Turkish Consulate General in Chicago, 455 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago; to the Turkish American Cultural Alliance Foundation, 3845 N. Harlem Avenue, Chicago, or to the Turkish American Religious Foundation office on the 7450 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 847-673-4072.
Yurtsever said the Turkish American Society of Chicago has set up a GoFundMe account, and that he also recommends donations to Embrace Relief, which has an excellent rating on Charity Navigator, which rates charities on various criteria.