The owner of a Turkish restaurant in White Plains is collecting donations for victims of the earthquake in Turkey.

Apo Kilic, owner of Turkish Cuisine on 116 Mamaroneck Ave., set up a donation box on the front counter of the restaurant with the hope of helping his family and others impacted.

Kilic’s parents and older brother survived the natural disaster, but he said their lives will never be the same.

"My big brother was going to work in the morning, and he saw that the whole building was shaking. He took the kids and ran away,” he said.

The reported death toll as of Sunday night stood at more than 29,000 in Turkey and 3,500 in Syria.

Kilic told News 12 that donations will go directly to his family to get necessities for those within small, rural communities because the government and most rescuers are focused on densely populated cities.

"I'm going to collect some money and go as much as I can, because there's many villages and people without food and without water. The kids are without diapers, without medicine. A lot of old people and kids are suffering over there,” he said.

Monetary donations will be collected for another week before they are sent overseas.