A magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Monday, Feb. 6, and its aftershocks have left a swath of devastation across Turkey and Syria. As of Thursday, Feb. 9, the death toll had risen to more than 21,000, according to CNN. There were more than 72,000 injured in Turkey and more than 5,000 in Syria.

As teams raced to rescue survivors, aid agencies have warned that freezing temperatures, new snowfall, lack of water, communications and power, could all converge to cause a “secondary disaster.”

Isobel Coleman, the deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said on CBS News Thursday that the agency was committing $85 million to the earthquake relief efforts. https://t.co/ZOxmHc9fN5

— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 9, 2023

The earthquake hit close to home for several promotional products suppliers with ties to Turkey. Sy Ereren, owner, founder and president of San Diego, CA-based Terry Town (asi/90913), is from Turkey. “It was pretty devastating to hear the news earlier this week,” said Alp Ereren, Sy’s son and Terry Town’s content manager. “Luckily, all of our families and factories in Turkey were located away from the epicenter.”

The supplier is currently doing an internal matching fundraiser with its own employees, donating to the White Helmets, a Syrian aid organization, and Bridge to Türkiye Fund, to help with relief efforts in Turkey. In addition, Ereren said, Terry Town is working on getting its Kindly giveback program set up with a Turkish nonprofit so that more in the promo industry can contribute to earthquake relief.  

The supplier also reached out to its blanket factory in Turkey and commissioned 3,000 blankets to be made and delivered to disaster areas in the southeast of the country, Ereren added. 

Riviera Towel Company (asi/82647) in Santa Barbara, CA, is also making efforts to help earthquake victims. The supplier sources its products from Turkey – tassels on its Turkish towels are hand-tied by artisans in that country – and co-founder Albert DiPadova and his wife, Shannon, have made many visits to Turkey over the years.

“We’re all so saddened by the earthquake tragedy in Turkey,” DiPadova said. “It was beyond words to express our feelings, so we created a post on our website and social media about how to help.”

In addition to making its own relief donation, Riviera Towel sent emails to some of its best clients asking them to donate to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) relief fund.

DiPadova noted that luckily the factories it works with are in the north and far from the earthquake’s epicenter. “Our business partners are safe,” he said.

Better Cotton, a sustainability initiative that some promo industry suppliers belong to, said that some of its farmers and program partners are among the victims and some of its ginners, spinners and traders are based in the affected area.

“We are gathering information on the extent of the impact on Better Cotton farming communities and will be able to share more information with our members and stakeholders in the coming weeks,” Better Cotton wrote in a statement.

The initiative said it was looking at ways to support the affected members of its community and asked its network to support humanitarian and relief efforts including Search and Rescue Association AKUT, Turkish Red Crescent and International Rescue Committee (IRC).

It’s too soon to say how the earthquake will affect Turkey’s garment sector as a whole. The country is one of the world’s top textile and apparel exporters. “Even though there is no big damage at the factory level since they are relatively new buildings, we have limited information about the situation of our employees and their families due to the destruction and damage in the residential areas. We hope that the situation will become clear as soon as possible,” Ramazan Kaya, president of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association, told the Sourcing Journal.

Because Turkey has mobilized its infrastructure to move heavy relief equipment, there is some disruption to its ports and shipping in general, DiPadova said. So far, promo suppliers that ASI Media spoke with said they haven’t experienced any supply chain disruption as a result of the tragedy.