A couple in Turkey instead of holding their wedding buffet at home decided to celebrate it with a difference by feeding 4,000 Syrian refugees on their wedding day.
The newlywed Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat donated the savings their families had put together for a lavish party to share their wedding celebrations with the refugees living nearby instead.
It was Ali Üzümcüoğlu, the groom’s father, who originally had the idea to share a bit of wedding joy with those less fortunate and share it with his son who was surprised by the prospect, but soon won over.
“I thought that sharing a big delicious dinner with our family and friends was unnecessary, knowing that there are so many people in need living next door. So I came up with this idea and shared it with my son. I’m very happy that he accepted it and they started their new happy journey with such a selfless action,”he told.
“When he told that to the bride she was really shocked because, you can imagine, as a bride you wouldn’t think about this—it’s all about you and your groom,” said Hatice Avci, the international communications manager for Kimse Yok Mu.
Bride Esra Polat told, “I was shocked when Fethullah first told me about the idea but afterwards I was won over by it. It was such a wonderful experience. I’m happy that we had the opportunity to share our wedding meal with the people who are in real need.”
So, they arrived at KYM center, distribute the meal themselves and took their wedding photographs with people at the camp.
Groom Fethullah said, “Seeing the happiness in the eyes of the Syrian refugee children is just priceless. We started our journey to happiness with making others happy and that’s a great feeling.”
“Hopefully this will also give the start for other wedding dinners to be held here with our brothers in Syria,” the groom told local news.
The charity feeds around 4,000 refugees who live in and around the town of Kilis which has been a central crossing point for the flood of Syrians arriving in Turkey.