Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. Local News

Pizza place on Coquitlam-Burnaby border helping arrange Turkey earthquake relief effort

Pizza Garden restaurant workers and owners are all Turkish and are helping to mount a massive relief effort for the quake-struck country, including donating $1 from every pizza sold.
Diane Strandberg
Diane Strandberg
LougheedMallPizzaGarden
Pizza Garden at Lougheed Mall is donating $1 from every pizza sold to Turkish quake relief.Lauren Vanderdeen / Burnaby Now

Staff at a local business on the Coquitlam-Burnaby border have other things on their mind today beside making Neopolitan-style pizza.

Everyone who works at Pizza Garden, located at 148-9855 Austin Ave. in the City of Lougheed Shopping Centre, is Turkish, including the owners — all of whom have been left distraught over a recent massive earthquake that hit Turkey.

"All the families are worried right right now, we have 10 cities that are struggling," said owner Yigit Gunal.

"Once a day, we talk to our family, because there is no internet, electricity or gas. We have so many of the families affected by this earthquake, so much is destroyed and demolished."

Indeed, since Monday (Feb. 6), officials have reported more than 7,000 people dead from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey, as well as northwestern Syria.

Gunal, whose family is from Hatay province, said his company, Pizza Garden and Megabite, are doing what they can to help out by contributing $1 from each pizza sold and matching individual donations.

Funds are being used to purchase supplies, which are being boxed in an industrial warehouse in Vancouver and sent via Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.

Buket Sendemir, one of the organizers of the relief effort, and said money raised by Pizza Garden is going towards purchasing winter clothing, sleeping bags, canned foods, diapers and other goods.

Sendemir said the first flight, arranged by the Turkish consul leaves today, with more flights departing on Saturday and Tuesday.

Winter clothes, baby supplies 

Once in Istanbul, a non-profit agency called A Demand for Action (ADFA) is driving the goods to areas where the earthquake has taken its deadly toll.

Sendemir said the relief effort is an important contribution and needed now as families try to survive the winter.

Her own parents are afraid of being indoors but can't stay outside while friends are learning of loved ones trapped beneath the rubble.

"I’m super worried," said Sendemir, "Friends they aren't answering the phone."

The Vancouver warehouse where goods are being collected and sorted — winter clothes are especially needed — is located at 580 Industrial Ave.

Besides the Lougheed mall in Burnaby, Pizza Garden restaurants are located at:

  • Brentwood (4567 Lougheed Hwy.)
  • Metrotown (4464 Beresford St.)
  • New Westminster (#201-800 Carnarvon St., New Westminster)