As for Alsheikh, plans fell into place Monday during a regularly scheduled Harvard College Society of Arab Students (SAS) board meeting. By Tuesday, Alsheikh and fellow SAS members posted their grassroots fundraiser to Facebook and Instagram, inviting all contributions via Venmo. Twenty-four hours later their efforts totaled roughly $5,000, with another anonymous donor promising to match up to $15,000.

All dollars raised by SAS will go directly to Basmeh & Zeitooneh, co-founded in 2012 by Yasmin Kayali, a master’s student in public policy at the Kennedy School. “This organization is dedicated to Syrian refugees outside of Syria,” noted SAS president Sam Saba ’23. “However, because of their connections, they are now able to work within Syria.”

In fact, SAS opted for a separate fundraiser due to the unique situation in Syria, which has received far less relief than Turkey. Aid to the country’s politically divided northwest has been stalled, the U.N. said Wednesday, due to blocked roads, harsh winter weather, and more. “The concern with Syria is so many people are under the rubble in areas operated under various governmental and nongovernmental forces,” Saba said.

But Basmeh & Zeitooneh (Arabic for “smile and olive”) has managed to set up shelters and deliver food rations in the region. The nongovernmental organization even rented heavy construction equipment to help pull survivors from the rubble, Saba said.

Also raising funds this week was the Harvard College Turkish Student Association, which counted nearly $30,000 in donations as of Wednesday evening. The group started soliciting Venmo contributions via Instagram on Monday evening. Now it is asking for direct contributions to several trusted charities, including Turkish Philanthropy Funds. Members are also involved with a benefit concert Friday evening at First Church featuring Turkish and Sufi music plus a little Turkish-flavored jazz.

Uniting these efforts is an urgent concern for friends and family back home. Noting that inflation has spiraled in Syria, with the U.S. dollar going extra-far against the lira, Alsheikh urged members of the Harvard community to give what they can. “A single dollar goes a long way,” he said. “Any donation can help buy a meal or water, let alone get people out of the rubble.”

Despite jumping into action this week, Akbiyik nonetheless takes a long view of the tragedy and the needs it leaves on both sides of the Turkey-Syria border. “Unfortunately, the infrastructure there has collapsed,” he said. “It will take time to recover. We’ll need these donations for a while now.”