Turkey's Changemakers: Turkish Parliament makes difference with ‘stop wasting’ project

The fourth Changemaker of the 5th season of Sabanci Foundation Turkey’s Changemakers Program to share the unique stories of extraordinary people who contribute to the social development is the General Secretary of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Irfan Neziroglu who implemented the “Stop Wasting” project.

The Secretary General of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, İrfan Neziroğlu intended to contribute to solidarity and alleviation of wasting with the project called “Stop Wasting; Give the Excess Food to People in Need and Give the Leftovers to Animal Shelters”. On average, food for 6.000-8.000 people is prepared daily in four different kitchens in the Parliament. Due to the variable number of visitors in the Parliament, around 300 to 500 portions of food remains left over most of the time. With this observation, Mr. Neziroglu decided to start the “Stop Wasting” project.

As a result of the negotiations between İrfan Neziroğlu and the Ankara Governorship in March 2012, the excess food was started to be sent to a guesthouse where the oncology patients and their families stay and to a youth center of the Metropolitan Municipality.

The Secretary General also developed a solution to utilize the leftovers in the kitchens of the Parliament. In cooperation with Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, the leftovers are collected every day and distributed to the dogs in Gölbaşı Dog Shelter.

Inspired by İrfan Neziroğlu’s work, the Turkish Presidency, the General Directorate of Credit and Dormitories Agency of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Development and Usak Sugar Beet Factory participated in the project and all the leftovers are now being sent to the animal shelters.