Newsletters
A garbage truck driver in Türkiye's Hatay province is delivering more than waste collection to the neighborhoods on his route. Suleyman Yildiz, 40, an employee of the Arsuz Municipality, decorates his truck and hands out cleaned, repaired toys to children as he works his rounds.
Yildiz lost his father, Mustafa, 69, and his sister, Ozge, 24, when a five-story apartment building collapsed in the Cay neighborhood of Iskenderun district during the earthquakes, which were centered in Kahramanmaras. Yildiz was at his own home in Arsuz district at the time and was unharmed.
In December 2025, the Arsuz Municipality hired Yildiz as a garbage truck driver. Wanting to keep his father's memory alive, Yildiz began cleaning the plush toys and other items he found on his route, then handing them out to children in the neighborhoods he passed through.
Some residents, moved by his practice of disinfecting the toys before giving them away, began supporting the effort by donating additional toys.
Yildiz now collects these donations as well, carrying them on his decorated garbage truck as he moves through the neighborhoods on his route.
Children recognize the vehicle when it enters their streets, Yildiz says. "Every day we get the toys cleaned and give them to children as gifts. Now they recognize us in the neighborhoods we enter.
When children have gathered up their bags, we go over to them. Everyone becomes happy. We get prayers from most of the families," he said.
Yildiz said that after he began sharing footage of the toy distributions on his social media account, philanthropists started sending him toys directly to pass on to children.
He said his father's affection for children inspired the initiative.
"We were inspired by him, and we walk this path. Thank God, we will make a child happy every day. This is how we become happy. I don't have a dream. I want all the children to be happy, and for us to continue with our livelihood and our work, that's enough," he said.
Yildiz said his wife and relatives also collect toys and give them to him to distribute. He described Arsuz as one of the districts affected by the earthquake, saying children in the area were also negatively affected by the disaster.
"We tried to help them forget some things, to make children happy with gifts," he said, adding that he regularly hears positive feedback from the families he encounters.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
6 min read
