Vancouver warehouse leads Turkey earthquake relief efforts in B.C.

A Vancouver warehouse hums with activity as members of the Lower Mainland’s Turkish community sort relief donations and spend time together after Monday’s devastating earthquakes in the Middle East.

“I took time off work,” said Gulistan Kardemir, as dozens of mostly young volunteers, mostly of Turkish descent, sort through boxes of donated clothes and case lots of prepared foods to repack them in cardboard boxes. “It’s the least I can do. And at least you feel useful.”

“We’re just holding our hearts in our hands, and it’s bringing out the best in people,” she said.

On Monday, hours after the quakes hit, a call went out on social media — #helpturkeyvancouver — for donations of winter clothing, non-perishable ready-to-eat foods, baby food and diapers and for volunteers, she said.

On Tuesday, there were between 60 and 100 volunteers filling cardboard boxes and shrink wrapping them together to be placed on pallets so they can be trucked to Vancouver airport, where Turkish Airlines has agreed to fly them to Istanbul at no charge.