Packed restaurant. Photo Happietaria Happietaria is a restaurant for charity run by students. The initiative is organised in several student cities each year. Wageningen organises a Happietaria every other year. Proceeds from the restaurant are donated to Tearfund, an organisation that helps people all over the world escape poverty.
A total of over three hundred volunteers contributed to this year’s edition of Happietaria Wageningen, says chair Rozalin Boer. ‘The majority, some ninety per cent, of the volunteers are students, but there were also people from the asylum seekers’ centre that contributed.’
The restaurant, which is located in the former chemistry building at Dreijenplein 4, operated from 21 March to 24 April. ‘People had no trouble finding us. Students and employees of the university, but also those from Wageningen and surroundings who had experienced previous editions of Happitaria.’
Proud
The Happietaria board had hoped to raise at least 50,000 euros for charity. ‘We achieved our goal,’ says Boer proudly. ‘We are currently at 54,000 euros, and we still have some beverages left over which the supplier will buy back. The final sum will likely be slightly higher.’
These last few weeks have been very busy, Boer states. ‘As board members, we often worked from midday to midnight. Over one hundred patrons dined here on busy nights. There was the occasional mistake with bookings, which meant dragging an extra table from the cellar, but we always made it work. We received many positive reviews, both for the food and the charity initiative.’
