Metallica Foundation Donates $250K for Turkey/Syria Earthquake Relief Efforts

Metallica‘s All Without Our Hands foundation has donated more than $250,000 to aid victims of the Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Southern Turkey and Northern Syria that has killed 41,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

“We’re at a loss for words to describe the devastation in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake has reduced the entire region to rubble. The death toll continues to rise, tragically exceeding 36,000 lives lost,” the band wrote in a tweet announcing their donations to Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen to help deliver medical aid and meals.

“Two of @AWMHFoundation’s partner organizations, @DirectRelief & @WCKitchen, have boots on the ground providing medical aid & food to the victims of this disaster. #AWMH is providing $125k to each organization to support their efforts,” they added.

The massive quake and a series of aftershocks have left tens of thousands dead, injured more than 114,000 and displaced two million people while carving a path of destruction that leveled 6,500 buildings, many of them crushing victims who were sleeping when the early morning temblor struck.

The donation from the metal icons is just the latest charitable news from their AWMH foundation, coming on the heels of the more than $3 million raised by their Dec. 16 Helping Hands concert in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater, with funds earmarked for efforts to support workforce education, fight hunger and provide disaster relief.

The gig hosted by late night’s Jimmy Kimmel was streamed live on Paramount+ and also featured sets from Greta Van Fleet, a surprise appearance by St. Vincent and Robert Downey Jr. introducing the headliners. The Helping Hands Concert and a parallel auction honored a number of local organizations, including:  Baby2Baby, First Star, Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, mikeroweWorks Foundation, and The Skatepark Project.

See Metallica’s tweets below.