Support those on the ground directly in Turkey
Donation protected
I am volunteering at YUVA, which is a 100% non-profit foundation in Turkey.
Hello dear, my friends, family, and future friends,
My name is Ezgi Tataroglu. I have lived in Berkeley, CA, since 2011, and I am originally from Turkey.
When the February 6th, 2023 earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, one of the cities hit was Hatay in Turkey. My dearest friend from that city was there during the earthquake and is still there. Luckily he is alive, but his relatives, friends, and neighbors need help. I was trying to help them. I was reaching out anywhere to get help. And unfortunately, there was very little help until I found YUVA. Mr. and Mrs. Perincek, founder of YUVA, and all the volunteers help them tremendously. My friend and I were amazed and touched by how much care, love, and energy they put in to deliver everything in person, and they take their time emotionally connecting with children, mums, dads, uncles, aunts, and friends. It sounds like a fairy tale, like an angel falling from the sky. I was inspired by how much Mr. and Mrs. Perincek and YUVA's volunteers put their energy and passion into this relief work.
This care and loving energy comes from the transformative pain of losing their only son Umut in an earthquake in Izmir on 30 October 2020. Umut was seven years old. Their building collapsed, and Umut was trapped under the building with his mum Mrs.Perincek and his three sisters. Mrs. Perincek's two daughters and Umut were saved 23 hours later, and their youngest daughter Elif (3 years old), got saved 65 hours later. Unfortunately, Umut passed away at the hospital. His mum, Seher Perincek, and dad, Oguz Perincek, decided to build a foundation, so their son Umut could embody his name to become the hope for all the kids. “Umut” 's meaning is HOPE translated from Turkish.
Going through this experience pulls me so much to find a way to provide for YUVA, so YUVA will always be the hope for kids and children.
Seher Perincek and Oguz Perincek are such brave and loving parents. It inspired me to be more loving and caring. I am forever grateful to Umut for bringing us together to become a hope for other kids, children, and teenagers.
As of today, here is what YUVA foundation has provided to the mums, dads, children, and those in need:
☀️310 Food packages: For one family ( 4-5 people) for a month.
☀️91 Hygiene packages: For one family ( 4-5 people) for a month.
☀️520Stationery packages: for one child/student for a year's supply.
☀️1380 sets of children’s winter clothing: 3 different outfits, including the top and the bottom, winter jacket pajamas, winter shoes, underwear, socks, hairclip, warm hat, scarf.
☀️680 sets of women's winter clothing: 3 different outfits, including the top and the bottom, winter jacket pajamas, winter shoes, underwear, socks, hairclip, warm hat, scarf.
☀️590 sets of men’s winter clothing: 3 different outfits, including the top and the bottom, winter jacket pajamas, winter shoes, underwear, socks, hairclip, warm hat, scarf.
☀️ 720 winter blankets
☀️ 30 Scholarships for university students who lost their parents or caregivers in the earthquake.
☀️ 42 Family-sized Tents ( 4-5 people)
☀️YUVA’s “Bringing Kids to Life with Hope” program helps kids to adapt and recover from depression and sadness by doing activities with them, like visits to aquariums, museums, board games, and painting. Volunteers and founders spend vital 1-on-1 time with the kids to ensure they are not feeling alone and making emotional connections. At present, there are 25 kids in this program.
YUVA foundation is originally based on helping children. However, this is a significant ongoing emergency, and YUVA is helping everyone they can.
Although it’s not in the News anymore, the Earthquake should not be forgotten; its damage is ongoing and full recovery is still a long way away.
As of March 29th, 2023,
- More than 50,000 people have been reported dead.
- 107,000 people were injured, with most having lost limbs or suffered organ failure from their injuries; there is a high rate of kidney failure due to being trapped under rubble for a long time. Even though it has been 2 months, most of these people are still in the hospital. Their treatment is still going.
- 1,915 kids are in the hospital with lost limb or limbs. 213 of the kids are not old enough to talk, and their parents are still being searched for. We hope they will get reunited with their parents.
- There are more than 4,000,000 elementary and middle-school students in the earthquake area. Their school buildings are closed, and many of their teachers passed away due to the earthquake, so they cannot go to school.
- About 1,000,000 are preschool-age.
- There are 300,000 university students. It is crucial for these students to have in-person schooling and a somewhat normal social life in the face of adverse living conditions and depression.
- 750,000 apartment units have collapsed or are heavily damaged and condemned.
- 198,000 buildings have medium or light damage but cannot be trusted to stay standing, making the families who used to live in them effectively homeless.
- Many of the kids have moved west to Izmir, and YUVA hosts regular social activities such as museum visits, arts & crafts, and outside play to help them come up from their traumas.
- Building up the cities with their workplaces, homes, and public spaces will take years. Building up our children will take a lot of love and care.
- As Yuva Foundation, our mission is to bring like-minded people together to create a community so we can build up our children and young people again along with their homes, schools, and workplaces. They are our future.
Recovering from such a tragedy takes time; however, it is possible to fix this TOGETHER, step by step, day by day.
Here is our detailed plan:
While reading the list, please remember that these people and children have lost everything. The supplies listed below are basic, but in most cases, these are things that families do not have, including a place to sleep.
☀️Food package: For one family ( 4-5 people) for a month, $35
Our goal is 12 months and 100 families. The total would be $42,000
☀️Hygiene package: For one family ( 4-5 people) for a month, $24
Our goal is 12 months and 100 families. The total would be $28,800
☀️Stationery package: for one child/student, $73.45 for a year's supply.
Our goal is to help 300 children/students. The total would be $22,035
☀️ Summer clothing: 3 different outfits, including the top and the bottom. pajamas, shoes, underwear, socks, hairclip
For one child, $131.15
Our goal is to help 300 children. The total would be $39,345
☀️ Winter clothing: 3 different outfits, including the top and the bottom winter jacket, pajamas, winter shoes, underwear, socks, hairclip, warm hat, scarf for one child,
$ 215.10
Our goal is to help 313 children. The total would be $67,295
☀️ Scholarship for university students who lost their parents or caregivers in the earthquake before the fall semester in August.
One student's monthly tuition is $57.70
Our goal is to support 100 students for 15 months.
The total would be $86.550
☀️YUVA’s “Bringing Kids to Life with Hope” program helps kids to adapt and recover from depression and sadness by doing activities with them, like visits to aquariums, museums, board games, and painting. Volunteers and founders spend vital 1-on-1 time with the kids to ensure they are not feeling alone and making emotional connections.
Because YUVA is a nonprofit foundation, YUVA can get tickets for free for museums or aquariums; however, funding provides transportation, materials for painting, and other supplies like board games.
Painting supplies and board games for one child $26.24
Our goal is to help 300 children. The total would be $7,872
Transportation is $157.44 a month for 12 months.
The total would be $ 1,889.28
Total $295,906.28
As we are obligated to allocate 2.9% of funds plus 30 cents per transaction to GoFundMe for the use of their platform, in total, our goal for this campaign is $313,464.00
You can help YUVA by donating any amount; even a single dollar means the world to those you are helping. I understand if you are not in a position to help financially, but you can still help with no cost by sharing this gofundme page and YUVA’s information below:
All the donations go to YUVA https://www.yureklereumut.org/en YUVA is %100
non-profit. We work as volunteers with love.
I will do updates on the platform; however, if you have any questions or would like to be in touch. Please visit our website and email us. Since I can not display our email address on this page.
Our vision is to build a community that loves sharing LOVE, RESOURCES, and LAUGHTER. Please come and CREATE with us. Let's create a beautiful fairytale TOGETHER and become the embodiment of HOPE for children all across the globe.
Much love and blessings,
All of the Yuva Family and Ezgi Tataroglu
Organizer
Ezgi Tataroglu
Organizer
Berkeley, CA