Volunteers from Chef Club Croatia and independent volunteers from Istria, Zagreb, and Banovina were in Petrinja, Glina, and Sisak, handing out about 1,500 meals on Wednesday, to mark one year since a magnitude 6.2 earthquake devastated the region.

Josip Mesnjak, a member of Chef Club Croatia, said that he had been to the town of Petrinja on the very day of the earthquake last year.

“I wouldn’t single out anyone in particular. This initiative occurred spontaneously among people of goodwill. There was great enthusiasm among many people and we simply gathered together from across Croatia and came here to help these people in our own way, cooking and preparing food so they can eat a hot meal,” Mesnjak said.

He said that today they prepared bean soup with dried meat and sausages and venison goulash and distributed cakes from their partner association “Dobro dobrim”, which had raised money to buy cakes for earthquake victims.