Store proceeds go to relief efforts

This coming weekend — Saturday, Feb. 18, and Sunday, Feb. 19 — the Kamloops Firefighters Charitable Society and Station 10 Thrift Store will be donating all proceeds to Globalmedic’s current relief efforts in Turkey following the devastating earthquake of Feb. 6. The store is in North Kamloops, at Tranquille Road and Yew Street North. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend.

He said it affected civilians who were trying to organize emergency help or to seek out loved ones by using Twitter in areas where regular lines of communication were unavailable.

“It strikes at the efforts of civilians so much. Local NGO’s efforts were decreased by 50 to 60 per cent,” Bicer said. “At some point, it [Twitter] was re-instated.

Bicer said he is hearing from people affected by the earthquakes that government media is trying to shut them down.

”One person, our president [Recep Ergdogan] is trying to save his image and trying to control the media and control the source of information,” Bicer said. “But it also hurts our people.”

The federal government will match donations Canadians make to the Red Cross, up to $10 million.

To make a donation, go online to donate.redcross. ca.

The initiative is being spearheaded by store owner David Sakaki, who is also a captain with Kamloops Fire Rescue and a team lead for Globalmedic, a charity whose mandate is to save lives by providing short-term, rapid response in the wake of disasters and crises, at home and abroad.

More information about the organization is online at globalmedic.ca.