Turkey is reeling from a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake this morning that has reportedly killed thousands of people, and Turkish-American political commentator HasanAbi is already rallying support for the country where he was raised.
Born in New Jersey to two Turkish parents, Hasan grew up in Istanbul. While he now lives in Los Angeles, he swiftly began coordinating efforts to fundraise for charities that can support those affected by the tragic natural disaster.
“We are actively working on creating a streamlined process so that foreign donators can easily fund @ahbap along numerous other ngos that provide fast relief in turkey,” he said.
It took a little bit of time for Hasan’s team to set up a donation page through softgiving, but the Turkish content creator was clear early on which charities his donation drive would support. There will be four charities in total that his drive will support including Care Turkey and Care Syria, which was also affected by the earthquake.
Hasan has personal experience with just how much earthquakes like this one can negatively impact a country. The content creator lived in Istanbul in 1999 during a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, and now that he has the means, he has pledged his fundraising efforts in the aftermath.
“I will do everything I can to help,” he said.
Hasan isn’t the only one looking to help Turkey and Syria. Posting to Twitter, Trainwrecks inquired about the best charities to donate to, pledging that once he found a legitimate humanitarian organization he would donate $150,000.
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Throughout Hasan’s broadcast today, he has continually swapped between English and Turkish as he tries to cover the news as best he can. Hasan early in his broadcast today confirmed that none of his immediate family was directly affected by the earthquake.
“Thank you for your well wishes, but I’m fine,” he said. “My family is fine. They’re in Istanbul, but things are not fine overall in Turkey.”
