With the death toll from a major earthquake in Turkey and Syria estimated to be at 34,000 and growing, a Sherman Oaks nonprofit — Save the Syrian Children — is sending medicines and supplies to a network of doctors in Syria.
The nonprofit, which is based in Sherman Oaks, was founded seven years ago by Phil Kooset and his wife Tamar, according to KTLA news.
All the supplies which Save The Syrian Children is sending comes from a longstanding donor base, Kooset told the station.
“The sad part is we’re going through supplies at a rate that we’ve never seen before simply because the volume of people that are victims that are coming in the door,” Kooset told the station.
Since it started operating the nonprofit has shipped millions in medical and humanitarian aid since 2016.
“There’s not a lot of assistance going into Syria. It’s a hard to reach area,” Tamar Kooset told the station. “Unlike Turkey, which of course the help is welcomed, Syria is experiencing a dire situation because there’s not a lot of international aid that makes into this war-torn area.”