On January 24, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) announced a nationwide campaign with the Turkish American community to raise funds not less than $100,000 to help alleviate the devastation throughout the Philippines caused by Typhoon Haiyan. Every dollar contributed as part of this campaign will be matched by TCA, doubling the impact of Turkish American support all across the country.
More than 4,000 Filipinos have been killed and more than 4 million left homeless as a result of Typhoon Haiyan. After weeks of recovery efforts, 2.5 million Filipinos are still in need of food. In total, more than 13 million Filipinos have been negatively affected, including nearly 5 million children.
Helping those in need is a long-standing tradition for Turks. It is also a core value shared by Turks and Americans. How can we ever forget the outpouring of generosity and sympathy toward Turkey in the aftermath of the 1999 earthquakes? The world came to the aid of Turkey at this direst of time.
In this spirit, TCA has previously made significant humanitarian donations to victims of natural disasters in Haiti and Mexico as well as to refugees in Turkey who were displaced by the wars in Iraq. TCA now pledges to match dollar for dollar every donation raised for the Filipino aid campaign until Friday, February 28.
TCA will work with Turkish Philanthropy Funds to pool donations for this nationwide campaign. All funds matched by TCA will be allocated to humanitarian organizations working on the ground to alleviate the devastation, including the Consuelo Foundation, World Vision and One World Institute. We will partner with four local Filipino American organizations ($25,000 to each) that are based in areas with large Filipino American communities to ensure that all funds raised will go directly to the relief effort. They include:
- Filipino Community Center of Hawaii (located in Hawaii's 1st congressional district)
- Filipino Community Center of Seattle (located in Washington's 9th congressional district)
- Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Texas, South Texas (located in Texas' 22nd congressional district)
- National Philippine Cultural Foundation in Oxon Hill, Maryland (located in Maryland's 4th congressional district)
TCA will work with each of these four organizations to host a commemorative reception to which members of Congress will be invited together with leaders of the Filipino American community and Turkish American leaders from these districts.
Let us show the people of the Philippines and the Filipino American community that they have our support.
Please urge your friends, family, and colleagues to contribute to our relief efforts by directing them here.
