Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund

We can’t thank you enough for your generosity. Through your donation to GlobalGiving’s Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund, you joined more than 25,000 other people from around the world to raise nearly $7 million in support of community-led relief and long-term recovery after the deadly and destructive earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria.

Six months ago, the world was gripped by the tragic scenes coming from the communities and areas most affected by the earthquakes. More than 55,000 people were killed, tens of thousands of people were injured, and hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Not only were the earthquakes a tragic mass casualty event, but they also caused record-setting displacement, uprooting and disrupting the lives of millions of people all at once. Too many of those people remain without reliable shelter. Across the affected area, people are living in temporary conditions, including in tent cities. The earthquakes also added to the suffering felt by the millions of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people in the region.

To date, GlobalGiving has made flexible grants in support of more than 30 vetted nonprofit organizations in our community that are based in and working across the most affected communities in Turkey and Syria. You can find the full list of organizations at the end of this report. 

Your donation has meant so much to so many people: 

• It has meant that the Mavi Kalem Association is continuing to deliver life-saving supplies to children and infants across southern Turkey who remain displaced from their homes. 

• It has meant that the Network of Empowered Aid Response (NEAR) has been able to co-create a participatory, grassroots process led by local organizations across northwestern Syria to decide how resources should be allocated in some of the most destroyed communities. 

• It has meant that the Guardians of Equality Movement has been able to get flexible support to Syrian LGBTQ+ individuals, activists, and refugees displaced and injured by the earthquakes and at risk of discrimination in getting aid.

While attention has moved on to different crises and events around the world, these earthquakes are not a distant memory for those whose lives and families have been changed forever. We must not forget them. Your generosity is at the core of GlobalGiving’s commitment to managing this relief and recovery fund in support of vetted organizations on the front lines of response at least until 2025. Because of you, we are able to serve as a trusted resource that stands by our community of vetted local partners for the long term.

From everyone at GlobalGiving, thank you for your incredible generosity and support. It is truly making a difference—now and in the years to come. We will update you again in the months ahead about the ongoing impact of your gift as we make more grants from the fund in support of long-term earthquake recovery.

With immense gratitude, 

Chase + the GlobalGiving Team

Nonprofit Partners Receiving Grants 

Adeso (in support of NEAR)

Alawite Islamic Charity Association

Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants

Basmeh & Zeitooneh - Lebanese Association

Bridge to Türkiye Fund

Bünyan Gençlik ve Kalknma Dernegi

Çagdas Yasam Destekleme Dernegi (Association in Support of Contemporary Living)

Center For Civil Society And Democracy In Syria

Crete For Life

Direct Relief

Dünya Doktorlar Dernegi

Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV)

GiveDirectly

Guardians of Equality Movement

Ihtiyaç Haritas

International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation

International Medical Corps

Jafra Foundation for Relief and Youth Development

Kadn Emegini Degerlendirme Vakf

LÖSEV | Foundation for Children with Leukemia

MADRE

Mavi Kalem Association

NuDay

SEMA INSANI VE TIBBI YARDIM DERNEGI

Street Child

Support to Life (STL) | Hayata Destek Dernegi

Syrian American Medical Society Foundation

The HALO Trust

Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights

War Child Holland

Thank you for your generous donation to the Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund. It’s been nearly two weeks since devastating earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, and your donation is already making a difference, supporting emergency responders and providing food, clean water, medicine, and shelter for earthquake survivors. 

Tragically, more than 40,000 people have been killed in Turkey (officially known as Türkiye) and Syria, making the earthquakes one of the deadliest in recent decades. Millions of people across both countries have been affected, and survivors’ needs remain urgent. 

In Turkey, the destruction of critical infrastructure, like hospitals, in earthquake-affected areas has left tens of thousands of survivors displaced. In Syria, the impacts of the earthquakes have worsened the plight of millions of people in northern parts of the country amid 12 years of war. The impacts of the earthquakes will differ based on the situation in each country. But there are many tragic and overlapping effects, like the deaths of parents and other family members that leave injured children unaccompanied and in need of protection.

In response to this crisis, GlobalGiving is making 12 emergency grants today to our vetted nonprofit partners at the forefront of earthquake relief. This is our second round of emergency grants to support community-led disaster relief and long-term recovery, with more support to come as needs grow and evolve. Here is a snapshot of some of the work your donation is already supporting:

• The Jafra Foundation for Relief and Youth Development is a registered organization in Lebanon that has been a crucial source of support for Palestinian refugees in Syria for more than two decades. The earthquake’s impacts in Syria have left hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people homeless and injured. They have minimal access to life-saving aid due to a variety of factors, including strict sanctions and the United Nations’ response, which has been criticized as slow and inadequate. In the face of these extremely difficult circumstances, the Jafra Foundation’s team is quickly getting essential resources like mattresses and tents to survivors in three Palestinian refugee camps and providing other avenues of support like mental health services to children that have survived the earthquakes.
  
  
• LÖSEV (Foundation for Children with Leukemia), an organization with a dedicated track record of serving cancer patients across Turkey for more than 20 years, is working quickly to meet the needs of the more than 7,000 registered cancer patients in its network in earthquake-affected areas in the country’s south. From the first hours after the earthquakes hit, the organization was in direct contact with its patients to provide cash assistance, emergency shelter, and access to emergency health services. The organization also evacuated its patients from the devastated areas to safe zones with improved access to critical health facilities.

• Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi (Association in Support of Contemporary Living) is a Turkish organization founded in 1989 focused on education. The organization has identified at least 3,600 of its students in earthquake-affected areas that are in need of emergency support. According to their estimates, more than 70% of the students have been displaced from their homes. The organization is providing emergency cash assistance to the students and their families so they are able to purchase warm clothes, communication supplies, and find transportation out of affected areas.

Survivors across southern Turkey and northern Syria need urgent support. Thanks to your generosity, we are committed to providing that support now and in the years ahead through our vetted partner network. We will share updates with you via email again soon as our partners continue to advance community-led disaster relief and recovery. You can find a list of GlobalGiving nonprofit partners that have received grants this week from the Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund at the end of this report.

Thank you again for your support. It will continue to make a difference for the people of Turkey and Syria in the critical days, weeks, and months to come. 

With immense gratitude,

Chase + the GlobalGiving Team

Nonprofit Partners Receiving Emergency Grants

Alawite Islamic Charity Association

Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM)

Basmeh & Zeitooneh

Bunyan Genclik ve Kalknma Dernegi

Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi (Association in Support of Contemporary Living)

Direct Relief

Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV)

Jafra Foundation for Relief and Youth Development

Kadin Emegini Degerlendirme Vakfi

LOSEV Foundation for Children with Leukemia

MADRE

SEMA Insani ve Tibbi Yardim Dernegi