Dear ACS Community,

The full scope of the tragedy that has befallen communities in Turkey and Syria has become all too clear in the past few days. As photos and videos fill the news and social media feeds, we've all felt the need to do what we can to help.

One or our students, Basel Al-Shihabi, who himself is from Aleppo, is spearheading an effort to collect much-needed donations that will be sent to affected communities in Syria. Our Parents Committee was working on a similar effort, and they have joined forces with Basel and our student volunteers. We have many Syrian families in our ACS community, many who have friends or relatives whose lives have been affected by the earthquakes.

Here is Basel's message to the ACS Community:

Hello, my name is Basel Al-Shihabi, I am From Syria, and I am grade 10 student in ACS. During the recent earthquake Syria faced, we launched the "For Warmth" initiative which would collect donations to collect much-needed items: warm clothing, t-shirts, blankets, bed sheets, socks, old clothes. We will send them to the Chambers of Industry in Aleppo, which works closely with the Red Crescent and other NGOs. These organizations will distribute the donations to 126 shelters around the city of Aleppo. So if you can, please drop your donations on Friday, between 10 am to 3:00 pm at the ACS BD GATE. Thank you so much for your help!!!!

We have student and parent volunteers to help with Friday's collection. I hope that you are able to support this crucial humanitarian effort!

Again: Donations will be collected from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on Friday, February 10, at the ACS BD Gate!!

Thanks so much!