The Sabancı Foundation Has Supported 183 Projects with a Total Donation of 32 Million TL within the Scope of the Grant Programs in 15 Years.

Güler Sabancı: "With the Inspiration We Get from the Projects We Support, We Will Continue to Support Non-Governmental Organizations Working to Create New Stories" 

The Sabancı Foundation gathered the non-governmental organizations supported under the Grant Programs together in the event for “Sowing Season,” which was held for the 15th time this year. The meeting was hosted online by Güler Sabancı, Chair of Board of Trustees of the Sabancı Foundation, to share the stories of eight projects that received a grant from the Sabancı Foundation in 2020 to 2021. Being the only foundation to continuously fund non-governmental organizations for 15 years in Turkey, the Sabancı Foundation has supported 183 projects with a total donation reaching 32 million TL, touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in 76 provinces across Turkey. The Foundation supports those Non-governmental Organizations that implement projects to solve certain social problems faced by women, young people, and individuals with disabilities by offering knowledge and experience as well as grants.

Güler Sabancı, Chair of Board of Trustees of the Sabancı Foundation, said they have not only provided grant support to non-governmental organizations since the first day on this journey they set out 15 years ago, but they have always thought it is necessary to provide holistic support and ensure its continuity to make an impact that makes a difference here. “We have seen the non-governmental organizations that we have provided grants to as our companions. In addition to grant support, we have tried to be there for them in many aspects, from providing expertise support to communication and visibility so that they can build capacity where they need it. We have learned from their work and became stronger with their stories. "With the inspiration we get from the projects we support, we will continue to support non-governmental organizations working to create new stories."

Güler Sabancı also addressed the projects that were supported under the Grant Programs to ensure women, young people and individuals with disabilities enjoy their rights equally and active participation in the society. "In this 15th year of the program, we are happy to see these projects of great value that contribute to the society with self-sacrifice, involving efforts to lead women's solidarity in neighborhoods, to support women's awareness of gender equality and their rights and to ensure women enjoy equal conditions in working life, and to establish networks of solidarity so that children with special needs receive higher quality education and their parents can cope with the difficulties they experience. And these precious projects strengthen our belief that there are people who work wholeheartedly and with all their might for this society."

During the online meeting, the project representatives of Afyonkarahisar Businesswomen Association, Six Dots Foundation for the Blinds, Bodrum Women's Solidarity Association, Eskişehir Development Foundation, Istanbul Esenyalı Women's Solidarity Association, Colorful Hopes Association, Innovative Initiative Association, and  Association of Supporting Women and Culture in Yüksekova shared their project outcomes, their implementation experience, their plans for the future, and the stories of people who benefited from the projects. 

The second day of the event “Meeting Time for the Sowing Season” will have three Sharing Meetings: Designing Accessible Activities, Gender-Based Discrimination, and Sabancı Foundation Grant Programs in its 15th Anniversary.

The book "Sowing Season Grant Program Stories", which includes the stories of the projects supported within the scope of the Grant Program and which is also prepared digitally, is available at www.sabancivakfi.org/ekimzamani2021.