Chef Brian Ingram travels to Turkey after devastating earthquake: "I wanted to come and just love on these people"
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minnesota chef is serving up Midwest hospitality after a devastating earthquake half the world away.
Chef Brian Ingram traveled to Turkey this week after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks killed tens of thousands of people and left even more homeless and hungry.
Ingram and volunteers made the 700-mile trek from Istanbul to one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake. What he saw troubles his soul.
"There was nobody on the street. You'd see ladies and families -- they've literally taken chairs and put them in front of buildings where their family members fell and they were just sitting there waiting for word, waiting for anything and you would see these workers and volunteers going through the rubble," said Ingram.
Ingram came to Turkey to do what he does best, but one look at the devastation and he realized his energy was best spent taking care of the immediate needs of the people.
"I just want to cook for people. My love language is to cook for people. I wanted to come and just love on these people," said Ingram. "We bought all the supplies for them to have a mobile kitchen and I believe they are setting that up today for the new tent city -- these are popping up everywhere."
He is working out a church he has a connection to. The earthquake claimed the lives of its pastor and his wife. Now, it serves as a place for refuge and resources.
"They've turned the church into really just a supply chain house and its everything from mattresses to baby food to diapers to water to meal replacements and all of those things," said Ingram.
The focus is on helping for as long as it takes. The challenge is finding human and economic resources to make that happen.
"We know volunteers can only be in there for about three or four days. The emotional toll is so much," said Ingram.
Since Ingram has been in Turkey, the organization he and his wife created to fight food insecurity has raised $52,000 but more is needed. Click here to learn more.