US, Turkish charities hold blanket drive

International nonprofit Kimse Yok Mu continues its humanitarian aid campaign in Gaza which was hit severely by floods.
International nonprofit Kimse Yok Mu continues its humanitarian aid campaign in Gaza which was hit severely by floods.


Date posted: December 6, 0204

In a joint campaign, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), the American Turkish Friendship Association (AFTA) and Embrace Relief held a blanket drive for Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the US on Thursday and collected 25,000 blankets, which will soon be shipped to Turkey.

The drive, which was held last year as well, was also able to raise $100,000 in donations in addition to the 25,000 blankets, a 38 percent increase compared to last year’s drive. In recent years the joint campaign has collected more than 40,000 blankets and donations of around $115,000.

“Northern Virginia residents and businesses have once again risen to the challenge to help us provide humanitarian relief to those folks who have fled their homes due to the Civil War in Syria and the violence related to ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] in the region,” said NVRC Executive Director Mark Gibb during the drive on Thursday.

Gibb expressed gratitude for everyone’s support, including people at the Paxton and Maersk shipping firms who donated their services to truck and ship the blankets.

As part of the campaign, a website was established, www.helpsyrianrefugees.us, to help publicize the blanket drive. Reportedly, in a 45-day period the website had more than 8,000 views.

The blankets will be trucked to Norfolk, Virginia, to be loaded on a Maersk freighter, which will depart Norfolk for the port city of Mersin, where the blankets will be offloaded and distributed to refugees in camps and in the community.

This year’s blanket drive campaign was co-chaired by Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman (BOS) Sharon Bulova, Arlington BOS Chairman Jay Fisette, Prince William BOS Chairman Corey Stewart, Loudoun BOS Chairman Scott York and Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille.

During the drive, Bob Lazaro, director of regional energy planning at the NVRC, on his Twitter account expressed appreciation in Turkish for the efforts of the Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There), which helped with the organization of the campaign.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 5, 2014


Related News

Nizamiye Will Perform 15,000 Cardiac Procedures In Nigeria

For Muslims, myself included, the inspiration to serve humanity through education is coming from Hizmet philosophy which states ‘Serve human beings irrespective of differences in colour, race, ethnicity or nationality, in order to please the creator’. Otherwise, it can be rephrased to read ‘Serve the Created, in order to please the Creator’.

Turkish community in Springfield area to host Turkish bazaar, conference

The first event is a Turkish Bazaar, which will take place at the Turkish Cultural Center of Western Massachusetts, 540 Meadow Street Extension, Agawam. All profits from this event will be distributed to the “Raise an Orphan” in Haiti charity in conjunction with Embrace Relief, non-profit organization that brings together teams of volunteers to collaborate on humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.

Somalian students condemn plot against Kimse Yok Mu

Kimse Yok Mu has presence in 113 nations directly providing aid to 300 thousands. The non-profit passed a controversially rigorous 2-month inspection with flying colors.

“Turkey, with the great assistance of Fethullah Gülen‎ has been a model”

The Gülen Movement, has established a fine base, and the fact that there is perhaps some conflict and debate about the wisdom of doing it, or some of the techniques that are used, I think is very, very healthy.

Bradley Hawkins on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement

Dr. Hawkins refers to Fethullah Gulen as a wise man and says, “. I think that his form of Islam is a tremendously powerful, modern form of religion and has a lot to teach the world about how we should get together.” “I think Hizmet goes to the heart of what it means to be a Muslim. The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) was a man who was not teaching a set of dogmas. He was teaching a revolution of life, a whole new way to interact with the world around them, to interact with God, to interact with other human beings, to interact even with nature…”

Hakan in Turkey, Sukur in Africa!

I try as much as possible to read the hundreds of e-mails I receive every day. Among the hundreds comes an array of information, documents, news or photos, ranging from those that come “out of the blue” to the ones that make me say “Wow, how could we forget things so fast!” Some, on the […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

New constitution must bear spirit of Abant

Islamic scholars from across the world gather in İstanbul to discuss ‘ijma’

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen gives first TV interview in 16 years

S.A. nun speaks at the U.N. on Gulen

Turkish Islamic preacher – threat or benefactor?

The US Should Not Extradite Fethullah Gülen, To A Paranoid Turkish Government

To embrace the spirit of acceptance and tolerance

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News