While he has lived in Fort Collins for some time, Servet Dag is originally from Adiyaman, Turkey, one of the cities that experienced a magnitude 7.2 earthquake earlier this month. Dag's sister, Sultan Akboga, and her newborn baby were at home with her husband when the earthquake struck. Akboga survived the earthquake along with her husband, their five-day-old son and Servet's mother. The family eventually made it to Istanbul where another sister lives.
Since the earthquake, Dag has been communicating with his family daily to ensure they are safe. After several days of staying in shelters, he was happy to hear that his family was able to relocate.
"I've been using my WhatsApp throughout this whole process," said Dag. "After two to three days we were able to transfer my sister from Malatya, which is one of the cities was hit, to Istanbul, next to my other sister who she's staying with. So far, everyone is good."
To help his family, Dag launched a page as part of the recovery efforts. His goal is to raise $10,000 for items such as tents, propane heaters, boots and coats.
"I'm trying to help them as best as possible," said Dag. "It's also going to help some of the other cities that were impacted. All I can do is just pray and then send the money when I can."
The earthquake has claimed over 30,000 lives in both Turkey and Syria.
