10K for Turkey: Why a young Calgary boy is raising money for victims of the earthquake

It hit close to home for 10-year-old Izmir Kassam.

The day after his 10th birthday, the Calgary boy woke up to devastating news — two major earthquakes, registered at 7.8-magnitude, followed by one at 7.5 magnitude, had struck southern Turkey.

"It made me feel sad because, like, thousands of people didn't have any food, clothing, water, medicine or shelter," said Kassam. 

"They didn't know what to do next." 

The death toll from the disaster has surpassed 40,000 and continues to rise. According to data from the United Nations, around seven million children have been impacted.

After seeing the struggle that people in the area are going through, Kassam was compelled to do something to help those affected.

Running for a cause

On Sunday, he will kickstart his donation campaign. He's lacing up his running shoes and will run 10 kilometres every week for 10 weeks, with the goal of raising $10,000.

The funds will be collected through the Humanitarian Coalition, an Ottawa-based non-profit that brings 12 Canadian international aid agencies together in times of disaster.

Kassam says his personal connections further fuelled his motivation to help.

"I was named after the city, Izmir, which is in Turkey, and it happened on my birthday," Kassam said. "I felt a strong connection, and just in general too, I really like to help people."

Name on a map

On a flight back from their honeymoon in France and Italy, Kassam's parents saw a travel magazine with an advertisement profiling the city of Izmir.

Despite never being there, Kassam's father, Shamez, remembers liking the way the city looked. The name, he said, had a nice ring to it, it was unique, and he and his wife told each other that if they ever had a son, that would be his name. 

"We thought it would be neat to choose a name that you could see on a map," said Shamez.

"Sure enough, he came along."

With disasters such as this being so far away from Calgary, Shamez says he understands that it's easy to think that they won't make an impact on people from this side of the world. 

But the importance of helping others is something he says he's always believed in and is proud of his son for recognizing the same.

"I think it's great to make a difference in the world and he has just loved to run since a very early age," said Shamez.

"We believe in service and that we're all connected and we try and do what we can."

Although he's got a target number in mind, Kassam is hopeful that he'll surpass the $10,000 mark, and said he'd continue to run even if he hits the goal before the 10 weeks are up.

"I don't want to like, stop at raising $10,000," he said. "I want to try and raise as much money as possible."