Can I beat a 9-minute km in Beirut?

There are nearly 3 million university students in Turkey, and this year more than 6,000 of them applied for a TOG scholarship. In the end, TOG selected 184 scholar-volunteers. (TOG, or “Community Volunteers,” is a Turkish abbreviation for Toplum Gönüllüleri Vakfı.)

In the October 17 Istanbul Eurasia Marathon, I walked (and took photos -- see previous post) the 15km course in 2 hours 34 minutes. Step by step, mile after mile, I hope to raise 2000 Turkish lira (approximately US$1500) as part of my preparation for the Beirut 10k (November 7). This amount will help a TOG scholar-volunteer meet his or her university expenses during the academic year. To reach this goal I need a support team of 100 people each contributing on average 15 dollars for TOG scholarships. Will you join us?

Since 2003 TOG has provided financial assistance to more than 600 qualified scholar-volunteers enrolled in a Turkish university degree program. Scholar volunteers receive a stipend of 2000 Turkish lira (nearly US $1500) for one academic year and are selected on the basis of 4 criteria: financial need, academic ability, volunteer service and hobbies/interests. In order to maintain the scholarship, scholar-volunteers must make satisfactory progress toward completion of their degree and work 4 hours per week in an approved social service project. This means real life experience in project planning and management. Volunteer activities include tutoring, working with senior citizens and/or homeless children, developing social acitvities to attract people to the local library, reading for blind students, etc.

In addition to the scholarship program, TOG manages more than 700 service projects all over Turkey, giving 23,000 youth ages 15-24 an opportunity to volunteer and make a difference in their local community. This age group comprises 18 percent of the Turkish population, so TOG’s combined focus on higher education, problem-solving and community service strikes me as a pretty smart way to work for a brighter future. For more on TOG, please take a look at their English-language pages: http://www.tog.org.tr/index.asp

If you would like to join TOG’s effort, you may a) make a payment via PayPal, b) send a check (payable to John Crofoot with “TOG Scholarships” on the memo line, please ask me and I'll give you my USPS address!) or c) make a transfer directly to TOG from a bank account in Turkey. For bank transfers, please use the account information below and remember to add the explanation “AAO,JCrofoot,YourNameSurName.”

TOG Bank Account Information

• Beneficiary Name: Toplum Gönüllüleri Vakfı
• Bank Name: Garanti Bank Baglarbası Branch (422)
• SWIFT Code: TGBATRIS
• Turkish lira Account Number: 629 7467
  
• IBAN: TR 180006200042200006297467
  
• Explanation: AAO,JCrofoot,Your name surname

My sincere thanks to the visionary and hard-working leaders of the Istanbul running and fund-raising group Adim Adim (Step by Step) for selecting TOG after a rigorous review of TOG's impact and its accounting procedures. (I wrote more about Adim Adim in my post of October 16.)

Statistics:

• My actual pace in the October 17 Istanbul Eurasia Marathon: 5.8km (3.6 miles) per hour.
  
• My target pace for the November 7 Beirut Marathon: 6km (3.7 miles) per hour.
• The average yearly disposable household income in Turkey: 19,300 Turkish lira/13,800 USD (according to TurkStat, the Turkish Statistical Institute).
• The total annual estimated expense to study at a public university in Turkey: 7,000 Turkish lira/5,000 USD (food, housing, books, fees, transportation, clothing).
• In 2010, more than 6,000 students applied for a TOG scholarship; of these 280 students were finalists and 184 students received scholarships.
• TOG scholarships provide 2000 Turkish lira (nearly 1500 USD) to a financially needy and academically qualified student for each year of a degree program.
• The winners of TOG scholarships are selected on the basis of four criteria: fiancial need, volunteer service, academic ability, and hobbies/extra-curricular activities.
• In order to maintain a scholarship for the during of a degree-program, a TOG scholar-volunteer must work 4 hours a week in an approved social service project AND be academically successful.
• 200 TL (nearly 150 USD) supports a TOG scholar-volunteer for a month. 2000 TL for the academic year.
• There are nearly 3 million university students in Turkey. Since 2003, TOG has awarded scholarships to more than 600 students.

Join our team! Sports, health, education and creative problem-solving. It’s an exciting mix and participation with any amount would provide energy and inspiration for Turkey’s scholar-volunteers.