Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s first president and founder of modern Turkey, dedicated April 23 to the children of Turkey. He proclaimed it: National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, to emphasize that children are the successor of the future, as he recognized that the future of the nation lies with them.

A highly celebrated holiday throughout the nation, this is the day that children most expect to have fun and receive presents. Touched by a shocking statistic that states children in Eastern Turkey receive a single toy a year, and sometimes none at all, when the national average is one toy a month, we wanted to take advantage of the meaningful holiday, to brighten the lives of many deserving children.

Each year, we have an “Ataturk’s Children’s Day Campaign” to collect brand new toys for village children in the Elazig area, as a way to show them that they are valued and celebrated. We give importance to buying high quality toys and wrapping them before presenting them in a party filled with dancing, music, and cake.

Through this, we hope to lessen inequality for disadvantaged children in impoverished neighborhoods and create an inspiring childhood for them, so that they have a higher chance of growing into happy adults giving their own children a childhood like theirs. We value the importance of creating a chain of kindness and fulfillment.