Local Turkish organization fills truck with donations for people impacted by deadly earthquake

DAYTON — A truck is full of donations Friday afternoon, all from people in the Miami Valley looking to help those impacted from the devastating and deadly earthquake in Turkey.

The Turkish American Community Center in Dayton accepted donations Friday afternoon after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey Monday, killing more than 20,000 people.

Susan Harrison, of Xenia, told News Center 7 at the donation drive that she knew she needed to help after seeing the destruction the earthquake caused.

>> PHOTOS: Local Turkish organization fills truck with donations for people impacted by deadly earthquake

“I’ve got blankets, and I’ve got winter clothes that I can donate, so we did that,” Harrison said.

People also dropped off gloves, hats and even medicine to be loaded up in boxes to be shipped. Volunteers at the center said they couldn’t believe the number of donations they packed up.

“I’m super thankful to everyone that helped,” Ferman Mirzaeb said.

Islom Shakhbandarov, president of the center, told News Center 7 that he didn’t expect for the truck to fill up as quickly as it did.

“It’s amazing to see the support turned around with less than an hour,” Shakhbandarov said.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Local Turkish community center accepting donations for those impacted by deadly earthquake

Everyone our team spoke with at the drop-off, including State Representative Phil Plummer, said the Miami Valley knows how to come together for those in need.

“That’s the beauty of Dayton, Ohio. We received our share of tragedies, we step up. Now we’re stepping up [for the] Turkish community,” Plummer said.

To get all the of the donations to the ones who need them, Shakhbandarov said they will be driving this truck to Chicago and loading it up on a flight directly to Istanbul.

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