They hoped to get one van full of items to take to the earthquake zone in Turkey. That worked and it became even more. Two more trucks had to be used to transport everything. Salih Tokur from Den Bosch can hardly believe it: “It is unbelievable how much stuff people bring.”
Together with his brother, Salih watched television on Monday morning as more than 2,600 people died in major earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. “The images that we and the whole world have seen are terrible,” he says excitedly. “Our brothers and sisters who lost everything in one fell swoop.” Salih himself also has family in the disaster area. “Fortunately, they are doing well. They were able to get away safely and are now on their way to a better place. Unfortunately, that is not the case for many”.
“We can sit on the couch and cry, but there’s no point in that.”
Soon the brothers knew they had to do something. “We can sit on the couch and cry, but there’s no point,” says Salih. So they decided to start their own fundraising campaign. “We made a call in WhatsApp groups and on social media. There was a lot of response.”
A collection point has been set up in the parking lot at the Orhan Gazi Camii Mosque, on Schutskampstraat. “Everyone could hand in everything here. Diapers, sweaters, blankets, basically anything that would get people there through the winter,” Salih explains. The Bossche-Turkish youths sort everything on the spot and put it together in bags.
“Hopefully we can leave around midnight.”
These bags are then loaded onto buses and trucks to be taken to Turkey. “Five guys drive to Istanbul with all their stuff,” Salih explains. There, the items are handed over to the local Red Cross. “We are not going to the disaster area. We don’t want to get in the way of the rescuers.”
The drive to Istanbul will take about two days. “We actually thought we could leave here around nine o’clock, but there is so much stuff that we won’t make it. Hopefully we can leave around midnight,” says a proud Salih.
“People from all over the country are still coming here with stuff.”
The action of the young people also reaches various Turkish communities far beyond Den Bosch. “People from all over the country are still coming here with stuff,” Salih explains. All that stuff also still needs to be sorted and put into the trucks.
In the coming days, the young people will work together with other larger organizations. “People can no longer hand in things at the mosque,” Salih explains. “We will continue to work in various ways to help the people in Turkey. Hopefully there will be many people from Brabant and the Netherlands who will follow our example.”
A spontaneous fundraising campaign also started at the Vossenbeemd in Helmond on Monday.