We are proud to share our impact report detailing TPF’s immediate response to the wildfires in Turkey in the summer of 2021.

Our community’s collective response to the wildfires last summer was a great example of our global community coming TOGETHER to make a difference. Support for TPF’s Wildfire Relief Fund came from nearly  2,500 donors, raised more than $267K, and addressed the needs of thousands of people and animals. And more importantly, with your funds, NeedsMap is building the first-of-its-kind disaster response map in the world that will enable all parties involved to know the needs in real-time and react faster and concertedly. The disaster map will change how we respond to future wildfires in Turkey. THANK YOU!

With heartfelt gratitude,

Team TPF

Launch the TPF Wildfire Relief Fund Impact Report

Support TPF Wildfire Relief Fund

Once again you enabled TPF to make a difference in the lives of many young people. We want to thank you for that and share the impact we’ve made together in closing the digital divide in Turkey.

Since the pandemic led to the sudden closure of schools, many of our partners on the ground in Turkey have made heroic efforts to provide students with continued learning opportunities and connections with their teachers and classmates. This dramatic increase in online learning has spotlighted the longstanding equity issue of the digital divide. Many students’ homes do not have the computing devices and internet access required for them to benefit from the online opportunities their schools have scrambled to provide.

An estimated 60 percent of the students in Turkey lack access to a computer at home. Our partners report that many additional students are limited in their use of online learning because they share a single device, slow and unreliable internet access, or restricted data plans with other family members. Students in economically disadvantaged homes, from traditionally underserved groups, and from rural communities are much more likely to be left offline.

To address this dire need we connected stakeholders and mobilized the community to a prompt and effective response.

With the support of nine partner organizations, TPF prioritized underprivileged students’ access to online education through providing computers, tablets, internet connection, and online classes. Together we raised close to $210K and were able to support approximately 4,500 children in continuing their education.

Addressing digital equity calls for a concerted effort of all of us. We want to thank all of our donors and partner organizations one more time for supporting our efforts in closing the digital gap and bringing accessible education to more students throughout Turkey. Thank you Needs Map, Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi, Toplum Gonulleri Vakfi, Okul Destek Derneği, Turk Egitim Vakfi, Tohum Autism, PAYDA, ILKYAR, and Hayata Destek Dernegi for your leadership and dedication.

Please read TPF’s Digital Divide Impact Report to learn more about how our grants created an impact for many.

We are humbled by the trust you have placed in us and for your relentless support, thank you once again.

TPF's Digital Divide Impact Report

Join TPF in Closing the Digital Divide

As a movement, Turkish Philanthropy Funds grows both broader and deeper because of the countless people who believe in its power to transform societies through generosity. Last year was a testament to that.

For many, it’s difficult to imagine any resultant good that can come from last year. However, the way our community came TOGETHER and expressed solidarity and shared humanity has been an inspiration to all of us at TPF. TOGETHER, we’ve shown we have the capacity to make a massive impact.

As we look ahead to 2021, we hope you take a moment to see where we went TOGETHER in 2020 and explore TPF’s most recent Annual Report. We sincerely hope it inspires you to carry forward the lessons and inspiration from this unprecedented year, with hope, optimism, and action to create change.

2019-2020 Annual Report

Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) is proud to announce that United for Turkey, Koruncuk, LOSEV, NeedsMap, NEF Foundation, and Small Projects of Istanbul are selected as the next round of grant recipients of the TPF COVID-19 Community Relief Fund.

With the Relief Fund, TPF sees its role as being the bridge that helps our partners and our community get the help to obtain the resources they need during this time. Accordingly, TPF has decided to fund the following projects:

• United for Turkey: is receiving an additional $4,888 to support Turkish-Americans impacted by Covid-19, including students with F-1 visas who are stranded in the U.S., Covid-19 patients, and families affected by the loss of a parent or family member due to the virus.
• Koruncuk “Packages of Goodness” Project: With the grant amount of $9,000 “packages of goodness” will be distributed to 75 families (with approximately 300 children) who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. They will include items such as meat, oil, rice, shampoo. Many of these families lost their jobs during the Covid-19 lockdown period. An average of 1 to 2 children from the families are currently under the care of Koruncuk.
• LOSEV “Boxes of Happiness” Project: will use the grant of $15,800 to provide packages of food, hygiene kits and meat vouchers to households of 100 children with leukemia. These packages are estimated to help a family of four for two months.
• NeedsMap “Let My Computers to Be Yours” Project: will use the $7,750 grant for software development to create an online system to match students that need a computer to continue their education with donors. NeedsMap is implementing this project in collaboration with Toplum Gonulluleri Vakfi (TOG) & Association for Supporting Contemporary Life (CYDD). This project estimates to reach at least 1000 primary school students and 1000 college students.
• NEF Foundation – Hospitals & Health Professionals Aid Program: NEF will work on executing a “Pandemic Fight Action Plan” with establishing the “Pandemic Consulting Committee” that formed by doctors, industrial designers, and engineers to evaluate, design, and mass-produced the needs of hospitals and health professionals to fight the pandemic in Turkey. As a result of the committee’s evaluations, industrial designers have designed different prototypes that are approved by the hospitals. NEF currently mass produces face shields, antibacterial workwear, intubation, sampling booths, disinfection stations, and ventilator filters. The grant amount of $10,002.50 will go toward NEF will go toward raw materials, production, assembly, and delivery expenses for 550 face shields, 500 items of antibacterial workwear, 26 intubation booths, 17 disinfection stations, and 500 ventilator filters.
• Small Projects Istanbul (SPI) “Weave a Safety Net for Vulnerable Ones” Project: The grant amount of $6,551.25 will go toward helping refugee families during this time. As refugees are the most affected population by the outbreak as most of them are employed in daily-basis precarious jobs without any safety nets. Based on SPI’s survey that is conducted in April 2020, 93% of the refugee families have no income. With this project, 100 families who are in need the most will be granted food and hygiene supplies for 2 months. For the distribution of the supplies, SPI will be working with the A101 supermarket chain that provides mobile shopping checks to the assigned phone numbers. The funds will be used in purchasing of mobile shopping checks of 400 TL in total per family for 100 families, enabling them to fulfill their grocery needs for 2 months between May and June. The 2 months of staff cost ($581.10) during the project will also be covered.

Thank you for being our partners and taking immediate action to support those affected by COVID-19 during this time.

Turkish Philanthropy Funds continues its search for new projects to support.

Team TPF

Below is a list of the nonprofits to receive grants from TPF for COVID-19. The list below reflects in grants to 17 organizations.

The grants were made to non-profit organizations based in the United States and in Turkey.

The funding allows nonprofits to provide support to vulnerable communities as well as purchase protective supplies, among other needs. More grants will be made in the coming weeks. Learn more about the  and other ways to help.

• PAYDA (Sharing and Solidarity Organization): The funding allowed the organization to purchase and distribute 800 N95 Masks, 500 face shields, and 500 waterproof Exposure Suits to doctors and medical staff to hospitals in Istanbul.The organization was also provided funding to purchase an Intercept illuminator machine to be used to inactivate residual virus and other infectious pathogens that may be present in donor blood before blood to transfusions Covid-19 patients. The machine was donated to Inonu University in Malatya.
• TOCEV (Tuvana Foundation for the Education of Motivated Children): The grant provided a cash payment of 750TL for grocery expenses to 100 students’ parents who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19.
• MAGIT(Mathematical Power and Innovative Design Association): In-kind support provided 9th, 10th, and 11th-grade students at Izmir Girls High School access to Microsoft Teams to continue their education online in math, biology, literature, physics, chemistry, and other courses without disruption.
• COLYAK(Celiac Organic Nutrition Association): This funding provides three months worth of gluten-free items to disadvantaged families of 45 children with celiac disease.
• TEV (Turkish Educational Foundation): The grant will provide monthly stipends as well as internet access to 300 high school and undergraduate students who are identified based on TEV’s needs survey. The organization was also provided funding for the project that will provide 1 year-long scholarships for 5 high school and 5 college students whose healthcare worker parents passed away due to the COVID
• All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response: The funding provided supports the organization’s Emergency PPE Drive for New York.
• TACAWA (Turkish-American Cultural Association of Washington): The grant made to TACAWA’s Social Support Network responds to the needs of the Turkish-American community in the Seattle area impacted by Covid
• TOHUM (TOHUM Autism Foundation): The grant will provide internet access and tablets to 78 students with autism.
• United for Turkey: The funding will provide support to Turkish-Americans impacted by Covid-19, including students with F-1 visas who are stranded in the U.S., Covid-19 patients, and families affected by the loss of a parent, or family member due to the virus.
• Koruncuk (Turkish Foundation for Children in Need of Protection): The funding provided “packages of goodness” that contain food and hygiene products to children and their families with disadvantaged backgrounds.
• LOSEV (Foundation for Children with Leukemia): The grant will provide packages of food, hygiene kits, and meat vouchers to households of 100 children with leukemia.
• Ihtiyac Haritasi (NeedsMap): The grant will support software development to create an online system to match students who need a computer to continue their education with donors. The project will be implemented in collaboration with Toplum Gonulluleri Vakfi (TOG) and Association for Supporting Contemporary Life (CYDD).
• NEF Foundation: The funding will support raw materials, production, assembly, and delivery expenses for 550 face shields, 500 items of antibacterial workwear, 26 intubation booths, 17 disinfection stations, and 500 ventilator filters.
• Small Projects Istanbul: The grant will help 100 refugee families to purchase food and hygiene supplies for two months.
• Neighbors Link: The fund  will be used to provide hot meal vouchers to low-income immigrant families, who are unable to cook in their homes in Mount Kisco, Ossining, and surrounding towns in Westchester County.
• Okul Destek: The grant will cover the salaries of teachers who will be working at the summer school project, which aims to help students to catch up with math and science classes and encourage them to overcome the distress that emerged due to the
• KAHEV(Turkish Female Physicians’ Education Support Foundation): The grant will provide scholarships for 1 elementary student for 3 years and 1 high school student for 2 years whose healthcare worker parents passed away during the pandemic.

This update comes to you with great happiness and pride to prove small moves make huge changes. KEDV (Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work) has recently submitted their final project report. In October of 2011, we at TPF were quick to grant KEDV $25,000 to build a Women and Children’s Center in Van. During the 1-year anniversary remembrance, we spoke with KEDV and they were having a very hard time obtaining land. Location of the center was key, in that the people who needed it most, could not travel far. On top of that, once the land was chosen, finding local organizers to help with the project was proving very difficult. After the earthquake, NGO workers were worked to their limits to rebuild the city.

However, against all odds, KEDV pushed through all obstacles and opened the Kevenli Women and Children’s Center. The Center tackles large, relevant issues that locals are in dire need of learning. KEDV verses locals on financial literacy, to help them understand simple economics and how to manage personal finances. Women also benefit from courses in human rights and teaching them violence against women is not acceptable. Additionally, classes on communication with children, productive health and nutrition are also available at the Center. Women attending the sessions are between the ages of 15-45.

To date, 498 women have taken advantage of these courses, and the Center has not even had its official opening ceremony yet.  We are in awe of the impact this center will have on the community. It is understood that even if a woman’s friend attends a training course, she will spread the word and influence her neighbors and family.

Lastly, KEDV is listening to their community. 600 door to door visits were made to speak with women in the area. They asked the women what are their needs and how can they help. We cannot wait to follow up with KEDV in the coming months to learn the results of this survey and how they will shape their program to help the women.

All the best,

Team TPF

By: Melis Figanmese

Appalling is the only word. What else can you say about a country, whose economy is reporting record-breaking highs, has been ranked last in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index report in its region. Not only is Turkey ranked last in Europe and Central Asia, in terms of Gender Equality, it is ranked 124^th out of 135 countries worldwide. WEF’s report claims Turkey is the lowest performing country from the region on the economic participation and opportunity sub index.

Let’s look at where Turkey is falling short. I’ve pulled some of the statistics that are most alarming to me:

–        Only twenty-six percent of women participate in labor force.

–        Women earn only three tenths of what men earn.

–        Of ALL the legislators, senior officials and managers in Turkey, only ten percent are women.

–        Parliament is made up of eighty-six percent men and only fourteen percent women.

–        Women hold only four percent of ministerial positions in Turkey, where men hold ninety-six percent.

There are four sub indexes that the World Economic Forum uses to rank countries:

Economic Participation and Opportunity
Educational Attainment
Health and Survival
Political Empowerment

Turkey ranks below equality in EACH sub index, aside from healthy life expectancy (in health and survival).

The good news, TPF already has the momentum going to better these numbers. We support women’s education, skills-training, mother’s health and much more.  The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk stated that “A society is comprised of two genders: male and female. Is it possible to lift a huge block up if you concentrate on one side of it and leave the other side completely unattended? Is it possible that a part of a society reach the skies while the other part is tied to the ground with chains?” TPF is working towards an equal Turkey. We work with trusted non-profits on the ground, who understand what is needed to make a change in women’s rights.

Visit our website to support Gender Equality in Turkey, today.

Read the full Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum here.