The Ayhan Şahenk Foundation
1Since its inception in 1992, The Ayhan Şahenk Foundation has been undertaking initiatives in education, health and the environment as well as offering social aid to those in disadvantaged areas. As in previous years, the Foundation continued to implement significant projects in 2010 for the benefit of our people and community with a responsible perspective to help our government in fulfilling its social welfare duty.
In 2010, the Ayhan Şahenk Foundation supported the "Kızlarımız Okullaşıyor" (Girls Go to School) campaign led by the Governorship of Şanlıurfa by building a 24 classroom high-school and a 200 student dormitory for female students in Şanlıurfa. By supporting this project, the Foundation aims to help female students get secondary level education and thereby contribute to the creation of equal opportunities in education. The Foundation targets to complete both projects before the 2011/2012 school year and present them to the use of the Ministry of Education of Turkey.
In 2010, the number of people who benefited from the "Mobile Healthcare Units" project totalled 24,041, thereby reaching a cumulative number of 376,000 since the initiation of the project in 1997.
In the context of Ayhan Şahenk Forests of Endearment Project (Ayhan Şahenk Sevgi Ormanları) which was founded with the aim of leaving a healthy and liveable environment for future generations, 540,000 trees have been planted to date in the forest areas which were demolished through fires, mining, or erosion.
In 2010, the Foundation continued to provide its maintenance support to Ayhan Şahenk Forests of Endearment planted in Marmaris, Bodrum, Niğde and İstanbul without interruption, in line with a protocol signed with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The maintenance support involved repairing fences and doors, as well as tending plants and replacing dead ones with fresh plants.
As a part of the Foundation's ongoing commitment to provide social aid to the underprivileged, the Ayhan Şahenk Foundation provided clothing to 1,000 students and food staples to 2,500 poor families in 2010. During the month of Ramadan in 2010, the Foundation served "iftar" dinners to approximately 2,500 people per day, hosting 43,000 people in total.
For detailed information about the foundation and its projects: www.ayhansahenkvakfi.org.tr