Food For All members cooking in earthquake ravaged Turkey

Magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes struck nine hours apart in the south-east of the country and Syria on February 6.

A humanitarian disaster is underway with up to 17 million affected, many without proper shelter, heat, electricity, or access to running water.

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Watford-based charity Food for All had already toured parts of the Ukraine/Poland border seven times to provide hot food, before deciding to drive out 3,000 miles to do the same for those struggling after the natural disaster.

Children receiving meals (Image: Food for All)

Para, 60, from Food for All is flying out on Thursday to join the charity’s vans, which set off last Wednesday (February 8) and drove through the night.

He said: “We are used to going to Ukraine even when it is dangerous.

“We are looking to go to both sides of the border. Very little aid has actually gone to Syria everybody seems to have gone to Turkey.”

Charity member Nick Balan in Ukraine (Image: Food for All)

Already having equipment from trips to Ukraine, the charity is able to load its vans with huge pots capable of feeding 5,000 people.

“My guys offered to go out. It was something we can do so we did it,” added the Hare Krishna monk.

“They arrived on Sunday morning and today (February 13) will be the first day of cooking hopefully.”

After teams, led by Watford resident Victor Rogulev, reached Turkey they reported back on the situation on the ground.

Charity member in Ukraine (Image: Food for All)

Para said: “There is no water and even the buildings that have not fallen down are too dangerous to go back into so a lot of people are huddling around fires outside with just blankets.

“In Turkey it is minus five degrees.

“There are hundreds of countries bringing aid, but the place is huge, its more than a drop in the ocean but there’s a lot more to be done.”

Charity member shaking hands with lord mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgul (Image: Food for All)

Upon arriving in Sanliurfa members were apparently joyfully greeted with the lord mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgul saying “what took you so long”, not realising they had just driven 3,000 miles.

Donations can be made here or you can contact Peter O'Grady on 07946 420827 or foodforalluk@gmail.com

The city of over two million people experienced some of the worst devastation and volunteers described seeing people living in tents or huddled up outside in the open air.

Unloading the van in Turkey (Image: Food for All)

Homeless people from nearby areas have gathered in the city and, following a police escort to some accommodation, Food for All has already met with 15 charities eager to distribute their meals to those most in need.

They have also arranged to provide lunch once a day to emergency services, leaving them cooking non-stop in shifts to meet “massive demand”.

The 20 Hare Khrishna devotees who make up the on-site members thanked everyone who has supported them, including Watford school children who raised £4,200.

Charity member shaking hands with lord mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgul (Image: Food for All)

More volunteers are flying out soon.

As Syrian refugees cross the border from a country where the civil war has seriously hampered aid going in, they plan to feed them too.

Last year two members of the charity, Krishna-Tattva and Madana Gopal Das, died after a kitchen they worked from in Ukraine was hit by a missile.

Food for All is appealing for donations to help it deliver to the border. It says members urgently need funds to bring generators, water purifiers, kitchen supplies, and ingredients to set up more emergency kitchens.

The emergency kitchen (Image: Food for All)

The emergency kitchen (Image: Food for All)

Police escort for the van (Image: Food for All)

The van in Turkey (Image: Food for All)