Three Lexington High School students raised more than $5,000 through a community bike ride in March 2025, funding four water filtration systems now serving hundreds of children in earthquake-damaged schools in Türkiye's Hatay province.

Ela Ustun, Kaan Kavukcuoglu and Mete Celebi organized the ride along the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, reaching out to families, friends and local businesses for donations. Their goal: bring clean drinking water to schools still recovering from the earthquakes that struck southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, 2023 — a magnitude-7.8 quake followed by a 7.5 aftershock — killing more than 50,000 people across Türkiye and Syria.

The students partnered with Bridge to Türkiye Fund, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and TOKTUT, a Turkish nonprofit, to purchase and install the filtration units. All four systems are now operational, according to a community announcement in The Lexington Observer published Wednesday, Aug. 26.

The filtration units provide free drinking water during the school day and reduce the schools' reliance on single-use plastic bottles.

The Lexington effort sparked a wider movement. Youth volunteers in Seattle and other U.S. cities raised additional funds for the same initiative. As of June 2026, Bridge to Türkiye Fund and TOKTUT had installed 11 filtration systems across Hatay, reaching thousands of students.

The broader program is expected to produce 600 tons of clean drinking water and prevent roughly 20 tons of plastic waste, according to the announcement.

Hatay remains one of the hardest-hit areas from the 2023 disaster. Recovery efforts continue more than three years later, with international agencies including the European Union still funding clean water and sanitation projects in the region.

The community announcement was authored by Meltem Korkmazel and Meliha Kavukcuoglu. No upcoming fundraising event has been announced for the program. Residents interested in supporting the initiative can find more information through Bridge to Türkiye Fund.