Tel Aviv Students Launch Humanitarian Aid Drive for Turkey

Jerusalem, 9 February, 2023 (TPS) -- “It’s good to have so many people donate to help,” said Hillel, a ninth grade student, as classmates brought bags full of coats and blankets to be delivered to Turkish earthquake survivors.

Hillel told the Tazpit Press Service that while he doesn’t personally know anybody in Turkey, “people in school are talking about people they know there or are stuck there.”

The 2,000 students of the Herzliya Gymnasium High School in Tel Aviv launched a drive on Thursday. Working in collaboration with the World Zionist Organization, the school will be a collection point for coats for men, women and children, as well as sleeping bags and blankets. Items can be dropped off at the school till Tuesday.

“I’m very proud of the students,” Principal Dr. Zeev Degani told TPS. “We are a very activist school. It’s not our first time helping others.”

The donations will be picked up by the WZO on Wednesday and delivered to Turkey by ship.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck southern Turkey and Syria on Monday morning, collapsing thousands of buildings. Thousands of homeless people have walked for days seeking shelter from the bitter cold.

The official death toll from Turkey and Syria stands at over 17,000 and continues climbing.