Sending Donations from Dublin, Ohio, to Adana, Turkey

Photo above: Volunteers from right to left: Kareem, Edward, Ibraheem, Zaid, Haashir and Ayaan.

From Dublin, Ohio, to Adana, Turkey — sending donations with love.

After this month’s devastating earthquake that took more than 43,000 lives in Turkey and Syria, Dubliners stepped in to do their small but powerful part.

Munnal, a Dublin resident and an anthropologist, initiated and led the project, collecting donations (formula, diapers, socks, gloves, shoes, canned food, tents and flashlights). “I didn’t realize I would get this response,” she says, after boxes and boxes of items showed up on her front porch.

In just 36 hours, Munnal’s family and friends (many of whom are residents and Dublin City Schools students) bought, sorted, packed and delivered the donations to a drop-off point.  The students, including Munnal’s two sons, helped load 116 large boxes on to a U-Haul, which her husband drove to Springfield, Ohio, where the materials were then passed on to a Turkish flight from Chicago. The items reached Adana, Turkey, on Feb. 12.

Munnal notes that all those who donated their time and resources to the project came together irrespective of their cultural or religious backgrounds. She says this points to how inclusive Dublin residents can be, and she notes how grateful she is to call Dublin home where she has lived with her husband and three sons for the past 12 years.

Thank you, Munnal and Dublin, for thinking of our global neighbors in this time of need.

For those wanting to donate, please remember to give responsibility and to accredited groups, such as TAACO (Turkish American Association of Central Ohio ).