The loss of life from the cataclysmic earthquake in Syria and Turkey is truly hard to process. Over 30,000 people have died and more than a million people are in need of aid and shelter in rain, snow, and temperatures that often dip below freezing.
We have focused on international aid organizations that are either based in the United States or have offices here so that donors can give with ease from their Donor-Advised Funds.
Our donors have asked for this guidance, and we share this summary with our local community. It is by no means an exhaustive list.
All of these charities work on many simultaneous international relief efforts. If donating through your Donor-Advised Fund, please specify “earthquake relief” in the description field in the donor portal.
Note: All charities listed on this document have received high ratings on either Charity Navigator, Guidestar, or both. The highest rating on Charity Navigator is 4-stars and the rating system on Guidestar goes from bronze to silver to gold to platinum.
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Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is donating emergency and trauma kits, medical supplies and blankets to dozens of hospitals; running mobile medical clinics for people displaced by the earthquakes; dispatched extra medical staff—including surgeons—to hard-hit health facilities.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
40 Rector St., 16th Floor, New York, NY 10006
212-679-6800 • donations@newyork.msf.org
Guidestar rating: Platinum • Charity Navigator: Four Star
Global Giving is collecting donations to help fund emergency medical workers’ ability to provide food, shelter and medicine, among other necessities. As needs in Turkey and Syria change, the organization will focus on long-term assistance.
Global Giving
1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005
202-232-5784 • help@globalgiving.org
Charity Navigator: Four Star • Guidestar rating: Platinum
International Medical Corps is expanding their health, mental health and psychosocial support, protection (including child protection and gender-based violence support), non-food item distribution, and water, sanitation and hygiene services to address immediate needs of the women, children and men affected by the earthquakes.
International Medical Corps
12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1500, Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-826-7800 • inquiry@internationalmedicalcorps.org
Guidestar rating: Platinum • Charity Navigator: Three Star
Save the Children is coordinating closely with local partners on the ground, including Turkish Red Crescent and Support to Life, to distribute tents, hygiene kits, clothing, heaters, blankets and other essential items. In North West Syria, they’re working with long-standing local partners to distribute tents and winterization kits as well as provide health centers much-needed fuel
Save the Children
501 Kings Highway East, Suite 400, Fairfield, CT 06825
203-221-4000 • supportercare@savechildren.org
Guidestar rating: Platinum • Charity Navigator: Four Star
ShelterBox works to provide families with life-saving shelter and essential tools and supplies after displacement from natural disasters and conflict. ShelterBox teams are on the ground in Gaziantep- a large city in southern Turkey where ShelterBox has pre-existing humanitarian partners and suppliers. They are working around the clock to mobilize aid that has been pre-positioned in strategic hubs around the world into the affected regions of both Syria and Turkey and responding with blankets, mattresses, winter clothes, heaters, and shelter kits that include tarpaulins, tools, and solar lights.
ShelterBox
101 Innovation Place, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
(805) 608-2400 • info@shelterboxusa.org
Guidestar rating: Platinum • Charity Navigator: Four Star
Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) Foundation is a global medical relief organization working on the front lines of earthquake relief providing medical care for earthquake survivors. For online gifts, select “Earthquake Relief Syria” under programs to support.
Syrian American Medical Society
PO Box 34115, Washington, DC 20043
202-930-7802 • info@sams-usa.net
Guidestar rating: Gold • Charity Navigator: Four Star
United Nations Refugee Agency is working on the ground providing blankets, emergency shelter, lifesaving aid and medicine.
USA for UN Refugee Agency
1310 L ST NW, STE 450, Washington, DC 20005
1-(855)-808-6427
Guidestar rating: Platinum
United Nations World Food Program USA, has on-the-ground support underway providing food assistance for earthquake survivors in both Turkey and Syria.
UN World Food Program, USA
1725 Eye Street NW, Suite 510, Washington, DC 20006
(202) 627-3939 • giving@wfpusa.org
Charity Navigator: Four Star
World Central Kitchen (WCK) is delivering fresh meals to families displaced and local authorities stretched thin due to the scale of the disaster.
World Central Kitchen
Attn: Donor Services Team
200 Massachusetts Ave NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20001
hello@wck.org
Charity Navigator: Four Star