- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Indian-Americans from across the US have raised more than $300,000 (£249,272) for the victims of the powerful earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria in early February. At least 50,000 people are believed to have been killed in the disaster while several hundreds of thousands were injured.
A fundraiser organised by several eminent Indian-Americans led by Dr Hemant Patel, the former president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), raised more than $230,000 (£191,109).
The fund raised over the weekend in New Jersey was attended by Turkish ambassador to the US Murat Mercan, along with Turkish consul general in New York Reyhan Özgür, wherein they profusely thanked the Indian-American community for the generous support for the earthquake-hit people of their country.
“They (the ambassador and the consul general) spoke very highly of what is being done and what the Indian community is doing for the Turkish people,” Patel, a recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honour, told the Press Trust of India.
Sewa International Houston’s AmeriCorps team recently organised a donation drive in support of the victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey.
People from different communities all over Houston came together to donate hundreds of items, including food, clothes, winter coats, hygiene items, outdoor supplies, tents, hand warmers, shoes and baby necessities.
More than 200 boxes were taken to the warehouse, filling over three pickup trucks, a trailer, an SUV and a big U-Haul truck.
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, New Jersey, organised a special prayer assembly this week for those affected by the humanitarian crisis.
The community members at BAPS offered support for the people of Turkey through prayer and a generous donation of $25,000 (£20,773) through its humanitarian relief arm, BAPS Charities, to the Embrace Relief Foundation.
(With PTI inputs)
