BOSTON– Unfortunately, as the media has widely reported, a devastating earthquake affected Turkey this week with thousands killed. Arduous search and rescue efforts are underway, while critical civilian infrastructure is devastated.
As a global organization, Mercury has a significant presence in Turkey. Thankfully, all our employees are safe. However, many of their friends and families are severely affected.
This hits close to home for us on many levels. Our COO, Artug Acar, was born in Turkey, and has deep roots and connections there. “The scale of this devastation is huge,” says Artug, “and everyone can make a difference in helping alleviate the human suffering.” Having spoken with our Turkish colleagues, it’s hard not to become emotional hearing their stories:
- People’s houses are leveled and destroyed
- Families with young children are without access to food and water
- People are stranded because of collapsed roads
- People spend nights in cars (and these are the lucky ones)
- Rescue and recovery efforts are hampered by unseasonably severe weather
As an organization, we have made a sizeable donation to the relief effort, and we’re raising money and encouraging all to help contribute. We’ve created a GoFundMe page and the funds will directly go to the relief effort.
