Pupils from a Northern Ireland primary school have donated money they raised for a school trip to support relief work in areas of Syria and Turkey affected by the earthquake earlier this month.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern and central Turkey, as well as northern and western Syria on February 6th.
To date, more than 50,000 people have died and there are an estimated 17 million people in the affected areas, many of whom are in urgent need of shelter, food and medical care.
Read more: Turkish man living in North Belfast mourning loss of family in earthquake
The facts and figures can seem overwhelming and it can be hard to know how to help, but children from King’s Park Primary School in Newtownabbey took action. The P7 pupils held a Valentine ‘Love Shop’ with the aim of raising money to fund a school trip.
However, days after the shop opened, news broke of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The children and staff were saddened as the death toll rose and news reports showed the horrifying conditions many children in both countries found themselves in.
The Kings Park PS pupils decided that they would like to help in any way they could and the children suggested sending all profits from the ‘Love Shop’ to the affected areas.
This was particularly poignant as Syrian pupils attend King’s Park Primary and the impact of the quake was felt by them in a very personal way. In total, the children donated more than £500 to the cause.
Vice Principal Gemma McCarey said: "King’s Park PS is a very inclusive and caring school and we place great importance on encouraging our children to be kind and help others.
"This decision by the P7s reflects the caring young citizens they are and their desire to make a positive impact in the world."
Over the course of four days, P7 pupils enjoyed developing their entrepreneurial skills and selling lots of items to the rest of the pupils in school.
Primary 7 pupil Oliva added: "We would like to thank all our customers who came to the Love Shop. We had great fun planning it, buying stock, advertising it by making posters and then selling everything.
"We are going to maybe have an Easter Shop and hopefully we can raise more money for good causes to help others."
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