THE TOY AND SWEET LORRY HAS SET OFF

A lorry full of toys and sweets, collected through the campaign launched by the Istanbul Toy Museum after the earthquake in Van to ease the pain of the children of Van and help them hold on tight to their dreams, has set off.

The people of Istanbul showed great interest in the toy collection campaign that the Istanbul Toy Museum in Kadıköy launched a week ago, and in a short time donated to the museum a full lorry load (about 20 trucks) of toys to send to the children of Van. Hundreds of toys collected through the campaign, in which no violent toys were accepted, including dolls, cars and furry animal figures, together with colourful festive sweets, set off today, organised by Kadıköy Municipality, so that they reach the children’s hands before the holiday.

Today, in front of Kadıköy Municipality, the lorry full of 20 trucks’ worth of toys and sweets was seen off by Belgin Akın of the Istanbul Toy Museum, Ali Ozan Akın, who started the toy collection campaign, and his friends Ali Tarkan and Tahsin Armutçu, together with Kadıköy Mayor Selami Öztürk and Private Office Director Kadriye Kasapoğlu.

Mayor Öztürk stated that the toys collected through the campaign will be distributed to the children of Van by CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and other officials, who will visit Van on the first day of the holiday, and said he hoped that with the toys and sweets the children would be able to move away, if only a little, from the psychological effects of the earthquake. Belgin Akın, one of the founders of the Toy Museum, also said that they had collected thousands of toys in a short time through the campaign and that they aimed to make the children happy over the holiday with these toys, and thanked everyone who supported the campaign.