* Huseyin Duyar with some of the supplies bound for the Turkey quake zone.
A Llangollen restaurant manager has
been co-ordinating efforts to collect clothing and other supplies to help
victims of the massive earthquake which struck near the Turkish/Syrian border earlier
this week.
And Huseyin Duyar of the Deeside Cafe
in Castle Street is taking part in two missions to ferry the piles of aid donated
by the local community out to the worst-hit area – one by road and another by
air.
Huseyin is originally from the city of Diyarbakir
in Turkey which is only about half an hour’s drive from the epicentre of the
quake in Kahramanmaras, south-eastern
Turkey, near the Syrian border.
Tens of thousands of people are thought
to have been killed and thousands others injured in the disaster which has left
many people homeless and in dire need of assistance of all kinds.
Huseyin said: “When I heard about
what I happened I immediately knew I had to do something to help the people in
my homeland, so I posted something on our Facebook page to say we were collecting
warm winter clothing and other supplies for those who have lost everything.
“The donations just came flooding in
from the local community and even from as far away as Holyhead.
“We have had so much brought into the
cafe that we have two store-rooms completely full of warm clothing of all kinds,
for men, women and children.
“The community have been so good it’s
just unbelievable what has been donated.”
Huseyin was originally only planning
to take the donated items over to Turkey by plane on Sunday February 26 because
it is faster to get the aid to where it is needed most.
But so much has been brought in that
he and friends have now decided to slot in another delivery before that.
So, this Sunday, he and Oswestry takeaway
owner Halit Sevim will be collecting up all the clothing being stored at the
Deeside Cafe and taking it by lorry over to Manchester where a group of Turkish
ex-pats will be loading up a much larger vehicle for a mercy drive out to the
earthquake zone expected to take five days.
Bags of items collected on Huseyin’s
behalf by Cat Meade at nearby Wingetts estate agents will also be loaded on to
the wagon bound for Manchester.
Although Huseyin won’t be heading for
Turkey this weekend he and three friends will still be flying out there from
Manchester Airport on Sunday February 26 taking as much as they can carry
between them, paying for excess baggage.
They will remain in the country for
about five days, staying with friends, and are ready to help distribute the
supplies to the affected areas if asked to do so.
Huseyin added: “What we desperately
need now are nappies, baby food, thick socks for men, women and children and
sleeping bags.
“If anyone can help us with these
things, we would be delighted to have them brought in to the Deeside Cafe.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has
made donations so far. It's been a fantastic response.
“This is a terrible disaster which
has affected so many people. That includes Haci Subasi who worked at our cafe
as a waiter until last summer. His parents live close to where the earthquake
struck and their house has been totally destroyed.”
* Huseyin is not collecting monetary
donations for the appeal but his colleague Donna Wynne suggested that people might
like to donate to a non-government appeal which she has checked out. This is at:
Ahbap Platformu Resmi Sitesi
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