The Purmerender is almost seventy years old, but he is far from thinking about retirement: Erol Savur wants to continue helping people and that is why he has the Facebook page Hand Help Purmerend set up. It turns out to be a bull’s eye, because within a short time the number of members has risen towards three thousand. Erol: “I want our citizens to help each other. That it will ultimately be contagious.”
Erol Savur’s infectious enthusiasm is palpable. He is full of energy and wants to do something with it. Erol is no longer in his twenties, but he is not looking forward to retiring any time soon. He runs a Greek restaurant and occasionally hands out free meals. “For the past two years, I have also been trying to make food for families who are struggling. I make time and love for that.” Yet, according to Erol, that is ‘not enough’.
Asking for and offering help
He therefore decides to open a Facebook page. Erol: “The starting point is to help each other, no matter what it is.” He is referring to throwing away a cupboard, for example driving someone back and forth to the hospital, doing an errand, or hanging up a toilet roll.
But after opening his page, which now has more than 2,500 members after just over a month, he notices that the giveaways are much more diverse. “I can take care of your dog,” says a Purmerend. Another says: “I’m good with children and can do crafts with them.”
Put Purmerend positively on the map
Erol is not surprised that the Facebook page is such a hit. “Because I know it’s in man.” According to Erol, an average of about a hundred members are added per day. As a result, his ultimate goal is getting closer. “I want to put Purmerend on the map in such a way that they say: ‘Wow, such a nice city! Everyone helps each other there’. That it is part of us.”
For Erol, it is natural to help each other. The Purmerend comes to live in the rainy Netherlands when he is 23 years old. He now feels more Purmerend, but originally a Turkish Kurd. From there he learned that it is very normal to help each other and ask for help. According to him, this is something that the Dutch do less easily.
In the meantime, residents from Zaandam and Amsterdam have also asked Erol if he can set up a page for them, but that is too much and that is why he hopes that people will be inspired to do this themselves. “The more happy people there are, the happier we all become,” Erol concludes.