CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — More than 6,000 miles separate ground zero, where two massive earthquakes leveled parts of Turkey, Syria, and Charlotte.
The gap has left many Turkish Americans with a sense of helplessness since Sunday’s tragedy.
That night as many Turkish-American families gathered to eat dinner in Charlotte, the news came in. They began to receive images and videos that showed the real-time destruction as two 7.8 and 7.6 earthquakes hit the region.
“On Facebook, we started to see the news, and we never slept until morning,” Fehmi Esen, the President of the Association of Turkish Americans in Charlotte, said. “We were all watching the TVs trying to find out.”
Esen spent 45 years of his life in Turkey. He returned last Monday from a trip to the region. He still has family, friends, and employees who live in Turkey and around the site of the earthquake.
Since Sunday, he and members of 1,000 Charlotte Turkish families have wondered about the destruction in the homeland.
If he was there, Esen knows he’d be in the mix, working to rescue and help people with his hands.
“But here, being so far, the only thing we can really do is just pray,” the man said.
On Wednesday, news agencies reported the death toll at more than 12,000, with estimates likely around 20,000. Esen and the association decided to begin accepting donations to send to Turkey to help those impacted directly.
According to their website, the most significant donations needs are:
- Blankets
- Winter clothes for adults and children
- Insulated tents
- Camp mattresses
- Sleeping bags
- Over-the-counter medicines for cold and pain relief
- Catalytic gas stove/heater
- Hand warmers
- Thermos bottles
- Flashlights
- Power banks
- Canned food
- Baby formula
- Diapers
- Hygiene products
Esen knows the weather conditions are harsh, with snow and negative temperatures.
“The people’s needs are not just for a couple of days, but a couple of weeks,” he said.
The association will accept donations and fly them abroad through Turkish Airlines. They’ll do this weekly for the foreseeable future.
“On one hand, you have people holding each other, but on the other hand – you know – what you lost is what you lost. It’s our story inside of your home,” he explained. “We need to pray to God and give people the power to survive this.”
To find out more on how you can donate, click here.
Fehmi Esen and Turkish-connected Charlotte residents are devastated by the images coming out of the middle eastern country. They’re taking donations and sending them to the country as thousands struggle amid the disaster.
Fehmi Esen and Turkish-connected Charlotte residents are devastated by the images coming out of the middle eastern country. They’re taking donations and sending them to the country as thousands struggle amid the disaster.
