Members of the Kurdish American Youth Organization (KAYO) are proud to initiate a fundraiser in collaboration with Gift of Hope Overseas, also a nonprofit organization founded by graduate students at VCU-Medical College of Virginia. In a series of relief efforts, the students have managed to deliver the much-needed medications and have sent volunteers to Dogubeyazit, a city in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. The children and women of the area suffer many health-related complications due to the lack of immediate medical attention.

In 2008, well over $200,000 worth of requested medications were delivered and distributed to the people in the region. Furthermore, a sonogram machine was purchased enabling the early detection of prenatal complications and allowing doctors to potentially save many lives. The delivery of the machine is pending upon the purchase of additional necessary laboratory equipment.

Now KAYO members plan to work together and with their communities to help raise funds to purchase mobile “lab in a suitcase” medical supplies and equipment. These mobile labs will then be sent to physicians and nurses in the Kurdish city of Dogubeyazit and its environs to enable them to conduct routine medical examinations onsite in the most rural areas. There is some urgency as many of the people in the region are in dire need of medical attention especially before the cold seasons approach.

KAYO hopes to raise the necessary funds for this cause in the next four weeks to help purchase and deliver mobile labs to Dogubeyazit.

We, the Kurdish American Youth, ask for your help in the form of donations and thank you in advance for your generosity.

All donations should be mailed to the following address:

*Checks can be made payable to: “Kurdish American Youth Organization”

You can also make donations online via Paypal by clicking on the following link:

All donations in the USA will be tax-deductible. KAYO is a U.S.-registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information or regarding any questions or concerns, you may write to us at kurdyouth@gmail.com