Syria’s Civil Defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, on Monday – Apnone

 

How to Donate to Charities Helping Victims of the Turkey Syria Earthquakes

The rescue and recovery efforts in Syria and Turkey are underway after the most powerful earthquake to strike the region in almost a century  killed more than 4,500 people , left thousands more injured and flattened thousands of buildings and homes.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks have unleashed a humanitarian disaster of unfathomable proportions.

Governments around the world are pledging assistance, deploying search teams, medical squads and equipment, and offering aid, as families who have lost their homes endure near-freezing temperatures.

Rescue workers and medics carry a young woman rescued from the debris of a collapsed building in Sanliurfa, southern Turkey, on Monday - IHA/APnone

Here are some ways you can help, but before you give, do your research.

Before you make a donation, especially to a lesser-known organization, you should do some research to make sure it is reputable. In Australia,  the government’s Charity Register  can be used to check if a charity is registered, and to find details about its operations or programs.

And if you suspect an organization or individual of committing fraud, you can report it to  ScamWatch,  the ACCC  or the  Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission  (ACNC) .

Hope, a rescue dog, waits to depart from Bonn Airport, in Cologne, Germany, to join the effort in Turkey -  dpa/PAnone

 

Many national and international organizations are helping.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, better known as UNICEF, said it is in Syria and prioritizing water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition, and also focusing on helping unaccompanied children locate their families.  UNICEF is accepting donations .

Global Giving , which helps local non-profit agencies, 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, it said.

The  International Federation of Red Cross  and Red Crescent Societies is requesting donations for its Disaster Response Emergency Fund so it can send “immediate cash assistance”.

OXFAM , an international organization that fights poverty, said it was working with women’s cooperatives in Turkey to determine an appropriate immediate and long-term response plan. It is accepting donations.

CARE , an organization that works with impoverished communities, is accepting donations that will go towards food, shelter and hygiene kits, among other items.

Doctors Without Borders , which responds to medical emergencies around the world, is collecting donations.

Save the Children  is accepting donations for its Children’s Emergency Fund, which will help provide children with food, shelter and warm clothing.

The  Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations , which since 2012 has provided medical relief and healthcare services inside Syria and to Syrian refugees in Turkey, is collecting money.

This article originally appeared in  The New York Times .