Watch: Thousands of UAE volunteers come together to help earthquake victims in Turkey, Syria as humanitarian drive begins

ERC has released a list of its donation sites spread across the seven emirates

Thousands of community members on Saturday gathered at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) and Expo City Dubai — helping collect and pack vital care packets for the victims of the catastrophic earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this week. The video above is a clip shared by Expo City Dubai this morning.

They assembled, sorted and packed vital supplies, including blankets, bedsheets, tea powder, toothpaste, brush, soap, shampoo, canned food, rice, cooking oil among others.

Apart from halls dedicated for packaging, there was a ‘Postcard Station’ area, a space where students wrote heartwarming messages like: ‘You are in our hearts’, ‘We love you so much’, to encourage those children affected by the disaster.

Top envoys from the embassies of Turkey and Syria in Abu Dhabi were also present on the occasion to motivate the volunteers.

Organised by the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), the ‘Bridges of Giving’ campaign was launched with overwhelming participation of volunteers. Besides mobilising relief, Good Samaritans in the UAE can also share their blessings in the form of donations.

From tomorrow, the ERC and the partnering UAE humanitarian and charitable organisations will directly collect donations in cash and in-kind over the course of two weeks.

Those interested in donating can log on to: http://emiratesrc.ae/relief/. Alternatively, those interested in contributing to the campaign can register via: volunteers.ae.

ERC has released a list of its donation sites spread across the seven emirates:

Abu Dhabi: ERC centre headquarters, Carrefour on Airport road, Marina Mall Caravan, Shahama - Baniyas Cooperative Society, Al Najda Street, Khalifa City, Baniyas City, Baniyas and Al Shawamekh.

Al Ain: Centre headquarters, Al Ain Coop Warehouse.

Al Dhafra: Centre headquarters, Liwa City Office, Commodity office, Dhanna office, Delma office and Marfa office.

Dubai: Centre headquarters, Umm Ramool and Al Quoz.