Chapel Hill victims helping others, even after death

RALEIGH: Following the death of the three Muslim students killed in Chapel Hill on February 10, they are still managing to help war refugees and the homeless as much of their lives were dedicated to helping Syrian war refugees, newsobservor reported. 



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With their killings sparking an outrage across the globe, donations of more than $300,000 were contributed in just three days to a fund set up by one of the students- Deah Barakat, a dental student. The fund had been set up for a dental aid trip to Turkey.

The medical aid group with whom he worked is now opening a new dental clinic bearing the names of the trio in Jordan and Turkey. It is also planning a dental clinic for the homeless in Raleigh that will bear their names.

The first, named after Barakat, opened on Thursday at a school for refugee children in Reyhanli, Turkey.

"We're very humbled by this generous community that is supporting such a great cause," said Dr. Zaher Sahloul of Chicago, who is president of the Syrian American Medical Society adding that "It is a terrible, terrible tragedy, but we're trying to direct the energy to something constructive by focusing on the noble causes they were part of."

Donations were approaching $350,000, and the society believes they could reach and even exceed $1 million, Sahloul said.  That might seem like a lot of money, he said, but not when you consider that there are more than 3 million Syrian refugees outside the country and many more displaced within that need help.

The society runs dozens of medical facilities in several countries bordering Syria and supports nearly 100 within its borders with a budget eof just $27 million, a third of it in donated supplies.

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Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh have been remembered since Tuesday by friends and family and on social media for their selflessness.