Stonington ― The girls’ junior varsity and varsity basketball teams initiated a Valentine’s Day disaster relief drive at the high school to benefit earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria in honor of their assistant coach.

The teams organized the fundraiser after learning that their assistant coach, Cenk Akarpinar, 24, is from the region shattered by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck around 4 a.m. Feb. 6, followed by a series of aftershocks.

“The center of the earthquake is the city where I was born and went to university,” said Akarpinar, an engineer and former professional basketball player for the Turkish Super League. He’s in his first year as assistant coach after coming to the United States 2.5 years ago.

He was stoic Monday during the girls’ junior varsity game.

He said the earthquake had destroyed his hometown of Adana, a city of approximately 2.3 million people, and his family told him the initial quake lasted roughly three minutes, moving the earth nearly 3 meters, or approximately 10 feet.

“The city is actually one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey, but, you know, there is a lot of earthquake plates in the city,” Akarpinar said, adding, “Most of the people has no home, no food; coordination is very weak right now.”

He said the area impacted is comparable to New Hampshire to Washington, D.C., and includes 10 cities and more than 30 million people. He said he has been told that most of the cities have been flattened and that current reports of 36,000 deaths are grossly underestimated.

He said he woke to the news around 3 a.m. Feb. 6, about seven hours after the initial quake. He was unable to reach his family for a day-and-a-half.

“I went crazy. I thought they had all died,” he said.

When he did reach them, they told him of unimaginable devastation and trauma for survivors. He said his 10-year-old sister’s voice quakes when he speaks to her by phone, and though his family has safely evacuated to the city of Mersin, approximately 50 miles away, the psychological impact has been severe.

“Right now they are in there and they are safe, but I lost so many friends ― my former teammates, my former coach, college friends ...,” he said, his voice trailing off.

He also lost his best friend, whose body was recovered from the endless piles of rubble after six days.

He said it’s hard not being able to be there to help. He is throwing himself into coaching because basketball is his refuge, while doing everything he can to help from here.

Head Coach Paulla Solar described Akarpinar as full of enthusiasm and a great asset to the team, spending hours of his time analyzing video and scouting ― something that is more typically found in college programs.

“It’s never a bother to him. He truly wants to make everything better,” she said, adding that she is fortunate and blessed that he chose to lend his skills and knowledge to her team and pursue the necessary certification to coach.

His dedication to the team made the players want to do something on his behalf.

Solar said the girls started to wear ribbons and bracelets emblazoned with “Turkey,” and that the fundraising drive followed naturally from their realization that life can change in an instant.

“It was surprise for me. I didn’t know about it. First, they started with the ribbons on their heads ― red and white ribbons,” Akarpinar said, moved by the show of support. Red and white are the colors of the Turkish flag.

When Solar explained that the team wanted to raise money for Turkey in his honor, he said no.

“It’s not just about Turkey,” he said. “What I lost doesn’t matter. So many people died, so it’s for all of humanity, either in Turkey or Syria.”

Principal Alicia Dawe said she is proud of the students.

“Historically, our students look for ways to the support the community, and the world, globally,” she said.

By the end of the day Tuesday, the drive had raised $890 for UNICEF, but Akarpinar said the dollar amount did not matter. He expressed that the attention the drive brought to the situation and his team’s compassion were the most important things to him.

Akarpinar said UNICEF is one of the safest and largest relief organizations and asked that anyone who wanted to contribute to relief efforts consider them.

Donations can be made at www.unicef.org.