Yapı Kredi Volunteers
There have been voluntary projects carried out by the employees in Yapı Kredi in previous years. However, the Yapı Kredi Volunteers platform was created in early 2009 with the slogan “One Social Responsibility Project for Each Department” in order to turn out more systematic, sustainable and creative projects. Pilot departments were determined and projects were developed at the end of the efforts initiated with the consultancy of CVA (Corporate Volunteer Association) in 2009. First, all units have decided the field on which they want to perform volunteer works based on an internal survey, and then met with the relevant Non-Governmental Organizations under the support of the Corporate Communication Administration and initiated their works.
In 2010, other departments and subsidiaries began their works in order to develop their projects. The purpose is to spread the volunteering awareness and volunteer works across the Yapı Kredi family in the long run.
Forever Young World(Retail Banking Management)
Under the project carried out in collaboration with Yapı Kredi Nursing Home, the volunteers from the Retail Banking Department share special moments with pensioners who live away from their homes. This activity, creating a difference in the lives of the pensioners, continues for one year. The main purpose of the volunteers is to ensure that the pensioners spend their times in a happy and productive way, to complete the missing elements in the place the pensioners live and make it more comfortable, to make them feel remembered and loved, in short to look after our pensioners living at the Yapı Kredi Nursing Home as the employees of Yapı Kredi.
Some of the activities regularly conducted on a monthly basis with the 23 Yapı Kredi pensioner living at the Yapı Kredi Nursing Home are five o’clock tea parties, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day activities, visits made on religious holidays and new year’s eve party, trips made to the Banking Center and the Banking Academy, and visits made to the Nursing Home by the top management. In addition, computers, printers and computers desks are provided and installed in the nursing home, open to general use, so that the pensioners can strengthen their ties with the outside world and enjoy their spare times productively.
The volunteers of the Retail Banking Department will continue to add color to lives of and share nice memories and engage in pleasant discussions with the pensioners living at the Yapı Kredi Nursing Home.
The First Step Woman (Legal Department)
With the voluntary work titled “First Step Woman”, monthly meetings are organized at the Nurtepe Women Cooperative of the Foundation for Utilizing the Work of Women and legal consulting is provided concerning legal issues of the women at the cooperative. The meetings are held at 12:30 – 14:00 on a monthly basis.
In addition to the meetings, information notes on general issued experienced by the cooperative, the Cooperative Law, legal rights and obligations of the cooperative are prepared and shared with the women. Moreover, information notes and examples are provided for tax related obligations and issues. Also, women are given information during the face to face meetings on the use of credit cards, account fees, credit card fees, and internet banking with the information note prepared on the frequent issues faced in relation to the Banking Law.
The change experienced represents both provision of legal information and change in the self-esteem. Women are given the concept that access mechanism to the law operates the same way for all regardless of their status in the society and that everyone is entitled to use that mechanism equally. The idea that the mechanism for claiming rights has no social status.
Hand in Hand with Darüşşafaka (Yapı Kredi Insurance)
The work performed by the volunteer employees of Yapı Kredi Insurance together with Darüşşafaka students began on 12 March 2009. The purpose of the project titled “Hand in Hand with Darüşşafaka” is to ensure that students being educated at the Darüşşafaka Education Institute, who have no fathers but are successful, 80% of whom are from Anatolia spend quality times with more efficiency. For children who attend boarding school during their education and can not go home on weekends, various social and cultural activities are organized once a month or sometimes two or three times a month in order to contribute their off-campus activities (visits to museums, ecological tours etc). Each activity is realized with participation of minimum 30 and maximum 80 children.
Each Child is a World (Operation Management)
Yapı Kredi Operation Department decided to implement a voluntary work in 2008. A school with students who have high working and learning motivation but who can not demonstrate their said characteristics due to lack of opportunities was searched for. As a result of the reviews and with support of the Diyarbakir Province National Education Directorate, a decision was given in favor of Hatipoğlu Primary Education School, a village school with 15 kindergarten and 89 regular students, located on the road between Diyarbakir and Şanlıurfa.
Since 2008, employees of the Operation Management Department have covered both physical needs of the school and personal needs of the students such as clothing, school supplies and toys. The works were included under the Yapı Kredi Volunteers platform in 2009 and named as “Each Child is a World”. The volunteers of the Operation Management Department raised funds for their projects at two charity bazaars organized at the Yapı Kredi Banking Center. Most recently, the volunteers made the children from Diyarbakir smile once more at the 23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Our volunteers planted 88 pine trees on behalf of 88 students at the Diyarbakır Hatipoğlu Elementary School and the 4 village schools in the vicinity in the school yards, and spent an enjoyable day with the children. Children who drew trees on the pictures of their schools even though there were no trees in the yards experienced a great joy in the planting sapling event they participated.
