Bridge To Turkiye Fund Is One Of The Charities Winning $100,000 In Final Round Of Chase Community Giving

Bridge to Turkiye was announced as one of the winners of a $100,000 grant in the final round of Chase Community Giving, by receiving over 50,000 facebook votes to finish in 5th place. End Quote

I want to go to school, I want to learn and become a teacher one day.

(1888PressRelease) February 02, 2010 - The funds will be used on initiatives that will provide access to education for disadvantaged girls in rural Turkey, who often cannot afford or are not encouraged to go to school.

"I want to go to school, I want to learn and become a teacher one day" says Ayse, one of the girls featured by BTF in the facebook competition. She can not continue her secondary education, because there is no high school close by her village located in the Eastern Agri province of Turkey.

Education of young women and girls all around the world is usually an overlooked issue as it may not seem as urgent as poverty or abuse. However, secondary schooling is a powerful determinant of the prospects of future generations. Girls' secondary schooling and social inclusion prepare young women to participate actively in civic life as community leaders and engaged citizens. BTF hopes that this initiative will bring awareness to this critical issue not only in Turkey but in the U.S as well.

"Bridge to Türkiye works to empower young people, so that they can realize their full potential, and fulfill their aspirations of a better future for themselves and their communities. As an all-volunteer run organization, opportunities provided by the facebook platform and innovative programs such as Chase Community Giving are very important for young organizations such as ours, so that we too can grow and realize our full potential. It was gratifying to see the outpouring of grassroots support, unleashed by this competition" said Serkan Holat, Bridge to Türkiye Director of facebook Programs.

More information about the program can be found at www.bridgetoturkiye.org

For additional information, contact Sibel Karakus, Ph.D. at (919) 787-7019

About Bridge to Turkiye Fund
Bridge to Türkiye Fund (BTF) is a 100% Volunteer-Run, International Grassroots Micro-Philanthropy Bridge. BTF's objective is to finance projects supporting children's education and health care. Organized for charitable purposes, BTF serves socio-economically disadvantaged Turkish children. Micro-Funds come from passionate, ordinary grassroots stake holders that have a simple shared vision: That Every Child Deserves a Quality Education and We Can Empower Them by Chipping-In and Giving-Back Together... BTF's Non Profit Tax ID number is 58-2678580.

About Chase Community Giving
Chase Community Giving, a grassroots campaign launched November 16 to inspire a new way of corporate philanthropy, allowed facebook's 350 million users to chose from more than 500,000 of their favorite small and local charities and to vote for them to win their share of $5 million. To be eligible for the program, charities had to be a registered 501(c)(3) non profit, have an operating revenue under $10 million, not discriminate against any particular groups and meet other requirements as described the program's rules.

facebook users voted for non profits in Round One from all 50 states and the District of Columbia that serve the general public in the following areas: education, healthcare, housing, the environment, combating hunger, arts and culture, human services and animal welfare. Tens of thousands of charities rallied supporters through online videos, mass emails, and other grassroots efforts to promote their Big Ideas for making a significant local impact in their communities. On December 16, the top 100 eligible vote-getters were announced to receive $25,000 each, and moved on to Round Two to submit a million dollar grant proposal to Facebook users. Only two of the 100 organizations overlapped with Chase's existing giving portfolio.

JPMorgan Chase donates a total of more than $100 million annually to more than 3,000 non-profit organizations in local communities, nationally and abroad. This $5 million Facebook effort is in addition to the bank's traditional philanthropic giving.

For more information on the program, visit http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving

About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which operates more than 5,100 branches and 15,000 ATMs nationally under the Chase brand. Chase has 146 million credit cards issued and serves consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs and mortgage offices as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.

About facebook
Founded in February 2004, facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Sibel Karakus, Ph.D.
Vice President of Executive Committee
Bridge to Turkiye Fund
100 Fox Briar Lane
Cary, NC 27518
(919) 787-7019
info ( @ ) bridgetoturkiye dot org
www.bridgetoturkiye.org

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Visit Bridge To Turkiye Fund Website

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