Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (BEUN) Devrek Vocational School Cookery Program students and graduates travelled to the region to support “Gönül Mutfağı” (Kitchen Heart), established in İskenderun District of Hatay to deliver hot meals to the victims of the earthquake following the February 6, 2023 Earthquakes.
Gönül Mutfağı Continues with its Meaningful Work
Following the devastating earthquake disaster that struck 11 provinces on February 6, 2023, Heart Kitchen was established as a volunteer initiative to meet the hot meal and food needs of earthquake victims and has continued its activities without interruption. Supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Türkiye, the kitchen was launched within the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi KYK Student Dormitory in İskenderun and continues its operations under the leadership of Ebru Baybara Demir, Member of the Presidential Youth and Social Policies Board and Social Gastronomy Chef.
BEUN Students Joined Iftaar Tables with the People of İskenderun During Ramadan
In order to contribute to the activities carried out in the region during the month of Ramadan, a volunteer team consisting of students and graduates from the Cookery Program of BEUN Devrek Vocational School also took part in Gönül Mutfağı. The volunteers supported the preparation of approximately 19,000 meal portions daily for iftaar and sahur, while also contributing to the production of around 5,000 loaves of bread daily in the mobile oven installed in the kitchen.
BEUN Team Took Part in Every Stage
BEUN students and graduates who traveled to the region as volunteers undertook duties in many areas, including preparing meals, delivering them to earthquake victims, maintaining the kitchen order, and ensuring hygiene processes.
In addition to its academic and scientific activities, BEUN continues to support its students’ active participation in social solidarity initiatives by attaching great importance to social responsibility projects.
Expressing his gratitude to all students who mobilized to support earthquake victims, particularly the students and graduates of the Cookery Program at BEUN Devrek Vocational School who contributed to this meaningful social responsibility project, the Rector of BEUN, İsmail Hakkı Özölçer, stated:
“As BEUN, alongside our academic and scientific activities, we continue to contribute to social outcomes, social responsibility projects, and initiatives that ensure academic production finds a meaningful response in society. Unfortunately, we still deeply feel the sorrow of losing many of our citizens, children, and students as a result of the February 6, 2023 earthquakes, described as the Disaster of the Century. Our Devrek Vocational School Culinary Program students who voluntarily participated in the Heart Kitchen initiative served thousands of citizens in order to help heal these wounds and to nurture the seeds of solidarity, compassion, and kindness in the face of such a social disaster. I congratulate our students, the academics who trained them, and their valuable families for this exemplary behavior, and I extend my sincere thanks to each of them. As BEUN, we will continue to grow by contributing to social responsibility projects and initiatives.”
