Stratford Mission Depot partners with Brantford philanthropist to send medical supplies to Turkey and Syria

The Stratford Mission Depot has partnered with a Brantford philanthropist to arrange for the shipment of much-needed medical and other supplies to Turkey and Syria after the massive earthquake that has resulted in a death toll of more than 41,000 people.

Jean Aitcheson, leader and founder of the local organization that collects, sorts and packages donations of second-hand medical supplies for shipment to people in need around the world, said the organization’s volunteers had been preparing to send a large shipment of medical supplies to Ukraine prior to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, but plans fell through at the last minute.

“Then there was the earthquake, so I started to look in London and Kitchener for who was accepting and sending medical supplies and they only wanted personal-care things like coats and blankets,” Aitcheson said. ”So then … I saw the piece in the Brantford Expositor about Anwar Dost (from last fall) … so I talked to him and he said yes, they’d love to have our supplies.”

Dost, a Brantford pharmacist and vice-president of the Muslim Association of Brantford, has, for the past quarter-century, also been collecting used and donated medical supplies for disaster and other relief efforts around the world. He recently began collecting and organizing donations of medical supplies and equipment, feminine and personal hygiene products, winter clothing, blankets, and other items desperately needed in Turkey and Syria.

“One of our members … his wife is from (Turkey) and he speaks very fluent Arabic. He got in touch with the Turkish embassy here and, for the next three months, Turkish Airlines is shipping all of these medical supplies free of cost,” Dost said. “They’ve got a couple of big storage units in Toronto … and Kitchener, so they’ve sent us a list of the high-priority things.”

After getting the call from Aitcheson, Dost agreed to drive to Stratford Friday afternoon to pick up and deliver nearly every item the Stratford Mission Depot had on its shelves at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

“We have a lot of wound-care supplies because, of course, that’s what we were collecting to go over to Ukraine, and they need those,” Aitcheson said. “We also have air casts. We’ve set aside some really nice walkers and wheelchairs. There’s catheter supplies; there’s intravenous supplies. We have things literally across the whole spectrum of medical supplies and every box is packaged with only one (type of) thing in it … so when it gets to Turkey the medical agencies can shop for what they need.”

While Aitcheson said the depot is happy to partner with Dost and the Muslim Association of Brantford in their efforts, this shipment has completely depleted the local organization’s supply of donations. She’s now asking Stratford-area residents to consider donating any unused medical supplies and equipmen to help restock the depot, so it can continue its efforts to help the people around the world.

While the mission depot is open Tuesday mornings at St. Andrew’s church, those interested in donating can also contact Aitcheson directly at either 519-276-1975 or by emailing [email protected] to arrange a drop off.

Anyone interested in supporting Dost and the Muslim Association of Brantford’s efforts to help the people of Turkey and Syria can send donations by check made out to the association and marked “Turkiye-Syria relief effort” to the Brantford mosque, 192 Greenwich St., Brantford, Ont., N3S 2X6.

The association is hoping to raise $100,000 locally to support the efforts of Islamic Circle of North America Relief Canada, a registered Canadian charity that provides humanitarian aid to victims of natural disasters. The group has already contributed $350,000.

The devastating Feb. 6 quake – measured at 7.8 in magnitude – was followed by a series of tremors that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, reducing much of the nearby towns and cities to fragments of concrete and twisted metal. With the massive – and climbing – death toll, the earthquake has been described as Turkey’s deadliest disaster in modern history.

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With files from Vincent Ball, Brantford Expositor