Kitchener restaurant owner raises money for earthquake relief in native Turkiye
Just under $6,000 collected at a fundraising dinner in Kitchener will soon go overseas to support earthquake victims in Turkiye and Syria.
The money, raised at a dinner at St. John’s Anglican Church, was presented to the Red Cross Saturday afternoon at Kitchener City Hall.
Local restaurateur, Sariye Sindy, owner of Queen Shawarma Turkish Cuisine in Kitchener, came up with the idea for the event and prepared the food.
Sindy was visiting family in Turkiye when the quake struck on Feb. 6. She recalls waking up at 5 a.m. to the entire apartment building she was in shaking. Sindy and her family were on the fifth floor.
“It was very scary. From when it started, it almost took 10 minutes – the whole thing was shaking,” Sindy said.
When the tremors began a second time, she had to make a choice.
“I had to make a decision between my mom and my granddaughter. I grabbed my granddaughter, I ran downstairs.”
Sindy’s mom survived and is recovering in Turkiye, but Sindy says leaving her family behind and returning to Canada was difficult.
“I felt very bad when I left them behind me, I couldn’t feel O.K. to enjoy what I’m eating here, where I’m sleeping. I couldn’t relax,” she said.
Putting on the fundraising dinner was an important way for her to help in whatever way she could.
“Now I feel better, if we are doing as much as we can,” she explained.
Another one of the organizers, Mo Markham, said when she lost her home in fire last summer, the community stepped up to help her.
She hopes she can do the same for people displaced by the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria and is encouraging others to donate to the Red Cross.
“They really need us to be their neighbours right now,” Markham said. “It really means so much when you’re in that situation to have someone helping you out.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.