'The need is urgent': Local organizations assisting Morocco from afar
Residents in Morocco are reeling from a destructive earthquake that has caused over 2,000 deaths.
As international aid workers are helping out on the ground, locals in southwestern Ontario are trying their best to provide relief from afar.
“The needs are beyond the material… people just need a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on,” said Miranda Gallo, Communications and Government Relations Manager, Islamic Relief Canada.
“They’re really heartbroken,” she said on Monday.
Gallo says their organization has worked quickly to send aid workers to Morocco to provide emergency assistance, as some villages have been reduced to rubble, leaving people in desperate need of food, water, shelter, and electricity.
“Since this is already happening, those who are still alive under the rubble are on a really tight timeline. There’s still time to get people out with proper assistance but it’s becoming grim,” she explained.
A region south of the city of Marrakech was hardest hit by the magnitude-6.8 tremor on Friday night with several aftershocks. The epicentre was high in the Atlas Mountains, about 70 kilometres south of Marrakech in Al Haouz province.
Once news broke of the devastating earthquake, members of the London Muslim Mosque quickly created a fundraiser on its website with a goal of reaching $100,000.
“Our day of service, Friday, we are going to designate the collection on that day for Morocco relief and it’s the least that we can do,” said Mohamed Al-Jammali, Imam, London Muslim Mosque.
Community organizers in London are partnering with Islamic Relief Canada in order to provide collected monetary donations to Moroccans overseas, as financial donations are the fastest way to provide basic needs, Gallo said.
Dr. Munir El-Kassem, Imam of Islamic Centre of southwestern Ontario said, “Whenever we hear about a place of disaster anywhere in the world it is our responsibility to feel the pain, and to respond.”
The Arab Students’ Association at Western University is also partnering with Islamic Relief Canada to collect funds on-campus at their information booth or donate online.
“Me and the executive team talked about setting up a fundraiser as soon as possible,” said Hamzah Algodi, President of the Arabs Students’ Association.
“We started with an online link where people can donate, then started spreading the message through our social media,” he said.
“There’s no goal in mind but we are trying to raise as much money as possible,” added Leen Barzak, the association’s Charity VP. “We felt that it’s very important that we step in and help this cause because it’s very near and dear to our hearts.”
Donations can be made to Islamic Relief Canada through its website.
Elsewhere this year, a magnitude 7.8 temblor that shook Syria and Turkey killed more than 21,600 people.
Of the 2,122 deaths reported as of Sunday evening, 1,351 were in Al Haouz, a region with a population of around 570,000, according to Morocco's 2014 census.
The earthquake shook most of Morocco and caused injury and death in other provinces, including Marrakech, Taroudant and Chichaoua.
— With files from The Associated Press’ Sam Metz, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, Angela Charlton in Paris, and Will Weissert in Washington
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Police: 3 killed, including suspected gunman, in Minneapolis shooting
Three people, including the suspected gunman, are dead after a shooting Thursday at a Minneapolis apartment complex, police said.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
$400K in damages for B.C. woman who had unnecessary mastectomy was 'inordinately high,' court finds
A jury's award of $400,000 to a woman who had a mastectomy after being misdiagnosed with breast cancer has been substantially reduced by B.C.'s highest court, which found the damages were "wholly disproportionate."