THE Turkish community in Andover has come together to raise thousands of pounds to help people hit by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria earlier this month.
The group led by entrepreneur Meliha Akbas raised £5,500 by selling Turkish pizza wraps and cakes from a pop-up shop in the town centre last Saturday, February 11.
After the successful fundraiser, the group is planning to hold another wrap and cake sale this weekend on Saturday, February 18.
Meliha said she decided to organise the fundraiser after the Turkish community in the UK collected more than 13 tonnes of clothes for people affected by the earthquake.
READ MORE: Rising toll makes quake worst in Turkey's modern history
“Now they need funds to get shelters. As a Turkish community in Andover, we raised £5,500 from the cake sales. We are overwhelmed, and we would like to do this week again.”
The 32-year-old, who runs M.A.Y.B salon in Junction Road, Andover, said the fund has been transferred to a charity named Ahbap Association, which is helping victims of the earthquake.
Meliha said: “After we helped by collecting clothes and other essential items, we thought about what we could do for the affected people money-wise and get them a shelter.
“We got a little Turkish community in Andover and I did a little post on Facebook and then on WhatsApp. I asked everyone to come together and that’s how the fundraiser began.
“We sold everything in four hours.”
SEE ALSO: Andover single-mum begs Sovereign housing association for help
The quake and hundreds of aftershocks, some nearly as powerful as the first, struck south-eastern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, killing more than 35,000 people and reducing whole swathes of towns and cities inhabited by millions to fragments of concrete and twisted metal.
The Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation, a non-governmental business organisation, estimated the financial damage from the quake in Turkey alone at 84.1 billion US dollars (£69.3 billion)
Damage included heritage sites in places like Antakya, on the southern coast of Turkey, an important ancient port and early centre of Christianity historically known as Antioch.
Greek Orthodox churches in the region have started charity drives to assist the relief effort and raise funds to eventually rebuild or repair churches.
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