Leicester woman to help feed Turkey earthquake survivors

Sarah Rashid will travel to Turkey with the charity Mercy to Humanity

A woman is to travel to Turkey to help people affected by the devastating earthquake that hit the country in February.

Sara Rashid, from Leicester, will travel to Elbistan to help cook huge meals for some 2,500 people who have been displaced by the disaster.

She will be part of a party from the charity Mercy to Humanity, leaving on Monday.

She said she wanted help people who are struggling through Ramadan.

More than 50,000 people were killed when the earthquake rocked Turkey and northern Syria and more than 1.5m were left homeless.

Mrs Rashid, who runs a business making savoury snacks from her own kitchen, will be in Turkey for the last 10 days of Ramadan.

'Daunting'

She said: "So many people have died and been displaced.

"When I cook for my business I have pots where I can make fillings for a thousand samosas or spring rolls but what I will be doing will be on a much larger scale.

"We'll be helping wherever we can and making food packs.

"It is a little bit daunting but there are people on the ground there who will be helping. There will be lots of volunteers."

She said the last 10 days of Ramadan were the most precious days of the year to Muslims.

She added: "To help these people in those days will be quite significant."