Rothschild Mobil collecting donations for earthquake survivors in Turkey

ROTHSCHILD, Wis. (WSAW) - Rescue crews in Turkey and Syria are still digging to find survivors within the destruction created by a 7.8 earthquake on Monday.

As of Wednesday, the death toll topped more than 12,000 people and tens of thousands are injured. “People don’t have anything,” said Cem Eren, an advocate from Turkey.

Rey Fox immigrated from Turkey and is now living in Wausau. She said that heartwrenching would be an understatement to what she has felt this week. Fox said she has distant family still in Turkey, but not near the impacted area.

Eren said his family is also safe, but some of his friends aren’t. “I still have a lot of friends in the southeast part of the county, and I did lose one friend. They couldn’t get to her in time,” said Eren.

Those who have made it are huddling for warmth, without shelter. Due to the structures being unstable or being worried about having another aftershock. Officials said there have been more than 100 reported.

Fox knows that fear all too well, having lived through one in Istanbul years ago. “Everybody was so scared, so worried, nobody was sleeping in the buildings,” she added. Having been through something similar, she feels their pain, “I cried and cried and cried. yesterday morning when I decided that I’m going to do this, I stopped crying.”

Eren and Fox posted on social media to get the word out and started collecting donations at the Mobil gas station in Rothschild.

They’re collecting a list of donations at Mobil located at 407 Grand Ave in Rothschild. To fill two trailers to bring to the embassy in Chicago. From there, it’ll take 10 hours to fly to Turkey where they can be distributed.

Just like those digging through the rubble for survivors Fox and Eren agreed we need to move quickly to collect the items.

Eren said to make sure items are gently used or new and that boots are their largest request. They plan to put each person’s name on each box so recipients know who donated and from where. If you would like to donate money please email Rey Fox at foxrundeliveryllc@outlook.com

If you have any questions you can reach out to Cem Eren at 414-324-8373.

If you work in the medical field, Eren had a special request. He said they are in desperate need of medical supplies the Chicago Embassy has a full list.

Copyright 2023 WSAW. All rights reserved.