Zita founded Etesd – a social enterprise that uses gastronomy to make a positive impact on the community – in 2020 to help provide healthcare workers on the frontline of the pandemic with meals. Etesd’s focus has now shifted to the war in Ukraine, and providing refugees with warm meals. You can donate to the cause via the Eatwith website, all donations will go directly to the charity.
What prompted you to start Etesd?
We started the ‘Etesd a Dokit’ (meaning ‘Feed the Doctors’ in Hungarian) project during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, to support our healthcare workers fighting Covid-19 by providing them with fresh healthy meals – relying on our hospitality industry backgrounds. Our initiative became very popular within a short space of time – many other people, companies, supermarket chains and small and multinational food manufacturers joined us. With their help we have been able to prepare and distribute food to healthcare workers providing Covid-19 related medical care as well as we managed to cheer up some little patients who had to spend these difficult times in hospital.
What are the main goals for the charity?
Our mission is to use gastronomy to make a positive impact in the community. We want to utilise the power of food and people’s sense of responsibility for sustainability to campaign for zero waste and conscious planning in the hospitality industry. Our strategies are shaping up as we speak – in addition to continuing to channel surplus or donated supplies to groups in need, our initial ideas also include educating young minds on the importance of the circular economy and the opportunities to re-use, re-plan and re-cycle.
How will donating to Etesd directly help Ukrainians fleeing the war?
We provide refugee shelters with healthy food and sandwiches.
What other projects has Etesd been involved in?
Our achievements:
- 160 000+ distributed food portions
- 5 Covid waves – 5 Feed the Doctors projects
- 4 charity cooking projects (400 meals each, education on sustainability and zero-waste)
7 main charity projects:
- Helping to save jobs of restaurant workers project during pandemic – 2020
- Fundraising gala dinner for children’s dance group – 2021 & 2022
- IT equipment for healthcare institutions – 2021
- Restaurant experience for families raising children with Special Education Needs – 2021
- Leisure time experience for healthcare workers’ families: 1000 tickets for Magic Show Performances – 2021
- Lego – Build to give campaign: 2250 pcs Lego sets for healthcare workers’ children – 2021 Xmas
- 2022 – Feed the Refugees Ukraine – 2022
Is there anything else you would like people to know about Etesd?
We are essentially a start-up whose services grew rapidly due to the intensifying health crisis during the pandemic. We rely on our generous sponsors and donors to support Etesd so we can in turn help the community, lately to refugees from Ukraine. Any donations would be appreciated and will go directly to helping those in need.
