Türkiye

2023

When I woke up on February 6, 2023 and reached over to grab my phone and saw the New York Times breaking news notification outlining the magnitude of the earthquake that hit Turkey, I knew immediately that's where I was going, and began packing my bags before I even got the call - which came about an hour later - from my boss. The earthquake spanned a 300 kilometer stretch that decimated dozens of cities. The destruction was unfathomable.

The operation was our most challenging because of the scope. Ultimately we set up 10 kitchens across the country. I managed our supply chain. Which meant that I was supplying all those kitchens with food and supplies either purchased in country or shipped from outside. We partnered with a food distributor and setup in one of their warehouses as a forwarding base for our operation and also purchased an enormous amount of food from them. I spent three months there. I stayed in the city of Adana - which is world famous for its kebab, so we ate a lot of kebab - and our warehouse was in a city called Osmanye. We also ate a lot of baklava. But I did get the chance to travel to all the kitchens as well.

This project was a turning point for the organization because of the scale. We certainly bit off more than we could chew, but ultimately our philosophy and approach meant we just keep going and doing what we can and that's what we did.