Arsenal’s Ozil gives $101,000 for holy month aid drive

Donation to Turkish Red Crescent will help provide food to people in Turkey, Syria, Somalia during holy month of Ramadan.

English club Arsenal’s star Mesut Ozil has donated 713,000 Turkish liras ($101,000) to the Turkish Red Crescent for an aid campaign for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The money will be used to provide iftar – the evening meal to break the daily fast during the month – to 16,000 people in Turkey, according to the group.

Families in Turkey and Syria will receive 2,000 food packages through Ozil’s donation, while 90,000 iftar packages will be distributed in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

Kerem Kinik, head of the Turkish Red Crescent, thanked the London-based footballer for the donation.

“We will deliver the packages provided with the donation of my brother Mesut to people in need as soon as possible,” he said.