The Turkish charity foundation Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) will be offering aid packages to 55 countries around the world, as well as providing aid to thousands of people across Turkey.
Planning to help the poor all around the world, the charity foundation is currently seeking donors to participate in their campaign to send aid to people in need during the month of Ramadan. Kimse Yok Mu Chairmen Ünal Öztürk has announced the foundation’s Ramadan 2011 campaign, saying that Ramadan is the month of brotherhood and sharing and the foundation will do its best to help people from Turkey and 55 other countries around the world through food packages. (source)
Öztürk said Kimse Yok Mu would be providing this aid to various countries around the world, regardless of their race, religion and language. Öztürk has called charitable people all around the world to join in this humanitarian campaign to help those in need.Kimse Yok Mu will focus on African countries suffering from drought and poverty, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda. The charity foundation will also hand out 40,000 aid packages in Turkey, which will be prepared by volunteers. Besides these Ramadan aid packages, the foundation will be providing hot food to people from iftar (fast-breaking dinner) tents and for people who cannot come to the tents, hot food will be delivered to their doors.
People in need will be given clothes and shoes to help them enjoy Eid al-Fitr, a three-day religious festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. In addition, students will be provided with educational packets to assist them in their education.
Bank Asya is a Turkish bank helping thousands of people all around the world by donating to Kimse Yok Mu’s Ramadan 2011 campaign. Öztürk has signed a protocol with Bank Asya’s Deputy General Manager Ercüment Güler regarding social responsibility and what kinds of humanitarian projects can be put into action. Güler later added: “We would like to participate in projects like these and lend our full support for the success of these humanitarian aid campaigns. We are happy to be part of this aid campaign organized by the Kimse Yok Mu foundation.”
Kimse Yok Mu is calling all beneficent people to this humanitarian campaign. Öztürk said that everyone can reach out to a person in need with just a small amount of charity.
There are various ways that donors can donate to the Ramadan 2011 campaign. In Muslim festival culture, families buy new clothes for their children. Öztürk said, “Families that buy new clothes for Eid al-Fitr can buy two sets and donate the extra one to a child in need. If the family wants, they can obtain the address of a needy person from our branches and deliver the costume themselves.” He added that people can also volunteer to be distribution assistants and deliver the aid packages from the foundation to the people in need.
An aid package costs TL 60, and includes sunflower oil, rice, tomato puree, tea, olives, jam and other daily food items. People can also donate TL 5 by texting the word ‘İftar’ to 5777 from any mobile operator to help a needy person have an iftar dinner. Furthermore, to be part of the aid packages, people can send the word ‘Kumanya’ to 5777. Twelve text messages worth TL 5 each add up to one aid package.
Kimse Yok Mu states that the earthquake that hit Pakistan in 2004 was a mournful reason for the association to organize some of the biggest disaster aid campaigns around the world.
Entering the international field with the tsunami that hit Indonesia and the Pakistan earthquake, Kimse Yok Mu’s mission continued with humanitarian aid campaigns organized for Palestine-Lebanon, Peru, Bangladesh, Sudan-Darfur, Georgia-Ossetia, Myanmar, China, Gaza and Haiti. On the other hand, the association reached out to people from 60 countries to distribute the charity of the Turkish people during Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice). Kimse Yok Mu accelerated its branching and networking efforts in 2006. Opening offices in the larger cities of Anatolia, the association now has branches in 28 cities. This number is expected to increase in the near future.
