With the understanding that social benefit should be measurable, sustainable, and participatory, ODAŞ has created the ODAŞ People Volunteers Program, which is based on employee volunteering. ODAŞ Corporate Communications Manager Yasemin Aydın explains the starting point of the program and the impact it has created to date. “As we brought ODAŞ People to life, our aim was; to ensure that our employees are not only supporters, but also active stakeholders who take responsibility in the field and contribute directly as part of the process. We designed the program as a flexible structure that everyone can be involved in according to their interests and competencies. Today, we have carried out nearly 3,000 projects and over 2,500 hours of volunteer work. Through the projects we have implemented, we reached hundreds of people directly and touched different segments of society by creating social benefit.”
Children and Education
Children and education are among the priority areas of our volunteer activities. There is a strong relationship between children and education within our volunteer work. Through collaborations with the Kanserli Çocuklara Umut Vakfı (KAÇUV), Umut Kafe initiatives, the General Directorate of Security, and the Çan2 Thermal Power Plant, we signed partnerships with organizations where the highest donation impact is achieved. At the Istanbul Marathons, we provided educational support to children running for KAÇUV, TOHUM Autism Foundation, and TEGV. We delivered toy libraries and baby ateliers to regions affected by the earthquake, and, with the Children’s Libraries we established in Çanakkale and Çan districts, we provided children with over 100,000 books for use.
We continue our disaster awareness activities with our Çan2 Thermal Search and Rescue Team.
It is possible to reduce the impacts of disasters and to ensure correct preparedness and awareness by foreseeing when and how disasters may occur.
The February 6 earthquakes once again demonstrated the vital importance of preparedness against disasters, not only nationwide but also worldwide. With the lessons we learned from this disaster, we came together as a team within the Çan2 Thermal Power Plant and established the Çan2 Thermal Power Plant Search and Rescue Team.
With a team consisting entirely of volunteer employees, in order to be able to respond quickly, consciously, and in a coordinated manner in possible disaster situations, we continue to participate in comprehensive training programs provided by AFAD.
We continue with training and certification processes. In the new year, we aim to spread volunteerism that grows with hope, strengthen social responsibility awareness through employee participation, and implement projects that respond to real needs; not only adding value to today but also to the future.
As one of the most meaningful examples of this approach, on the first days of 2025, through the “Wish Cards” initiative we carried out in collaboration with Make-A-Wish Türkiye, we became partners in the dreams of children fighting risky illnesses. This once again showed that the voluntary efforts of our employees shape this process and that social impact is not limited to touching one child, but grows and expands to everyone it reaches. At ODAŞ, we believe that when individual contributions come together around a common goal, it is possible to create a permanent and strong impact on a societal scale.
