Thousands of boxes of donations have been pouring into the Turkish embassy in D.C. following the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria this week, killing more than 20,700 people.
According to the embassy along Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest, easily more than 1,000 boxes of donations have been coming in daily.
“You do what you can for a humanitarian crisis like this,” said Kate Latimer, a woman who lives in the D.C. area who went to the embassy to donate dozens of bags of blankets and coats.
Many people from the region and beyond have been doing the same thing, driving up to the front of the embassy and unloading clothing and other supplies.
The embassy has been putting the donations in boxes and flying them to Istanbul, Turkey, from Dulles International Airport.
“This is an amazing and wonderful sight with these boxes and trucks and vans,” Latimer said. “I’m proud of the area.”
Incredible outpouring of support at the Turkish embassy in DC. Thousands of boxes of donations have been coming in after the devastating earthquake. @WTOP #TurkeySyriaEarthquake pic.twitter.com/INu2SXA3Qr
— Nick Iannelli (@NickWTOP) February 9, 2023
Reginald Jamison said he went to the embassy with donations to “help out the people who are in distress.”
“When you see people in need, that’s the proper thing to do,” Jamison said. “I would want somebody to do that for me if I was ever in a situation like that.”
Rescuers pulled more survivors from beneath collapsed buildings Thursday, but hopes were starting to fade of finding many more people alive.
The European Union said it will hold a special donor conference in the coming months to raise funds for earthquake victims.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-member bloc is sending the message to the people of Turkey and Syria that it will support their communities because “no one should be left alone when a tragedy like this hits a people.”
The event, to be held in Brussels, will seek to raise money and organize relief once the immediate needs of the affected populations have been addressed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
