About · Founding
It started with an email.
In June 2013 a letter went out from Istanbul to people from Çardak: "Where would you like to stand in this association?" Five months later a ribbon was cut at a shop lent by the municipality.
17 June 2013 — the first letter
The association was still called "Çardak Nature and Education Volunteers"; the word "reforestation" was not yet in the name. The list of aims had seven items and was broader than today's: planting trees, scholarships, classes, classrooms, computers; circumcisions for children of families in need; disaster relief; medicine for patients without insurance; treatment rooms for hospitals; and "when we are financially able, a school for a village". The letter ended with a question: Where would you like to stand in this association?
Letter of 17 June 2013 (Turkish)1 July 2013 — Çamlık Café
Of those invited by email and phone, 20–25 came; the district governor and the mayor were guests of honour. The association's outline took its final shape, the aims were cut to five and the name was voted on. Erdoğan Cengizer wrote the meeting report; the "pack of cigarettes" idea comes from it:
Let those of us who smoke buy one pack less a month and spend the saving on something good for the hometown. Let each say "I too put my shoulder to the wheel." We will not hold meetings in five-star hotels on the coast; we will meet in the office the municipality lends us, or in its wedding hall. Every lira we raise will go to a good cause.Meeting report, 1 July 2013Meeting report (Turkish) Final aims (Turkish)
The name vote
Nine names were on the ballot and 22 people voted. ÇADED, the one carrying the word "reforestation", won with eight votes:
Ballot form Result4 July 2013 — papers filed
Seven founders — İlhan Şen (interim chair), Emine Oğan, Hakan Cengizer, Süleyman Çakmak, Alpay Cengizer, Umut Başsorgun, Aydın Volkan Kayhan — filed four copies of the charter, the founding declaration and ID copies with the Çardak district governor's office. The chosen name was announced to everyone the next day.
Founding declaration Announcement of 5 JulyOctober 2013 — office, phone, logo
Approval from the governor's office and the Interior Ministry came through; tax and notary formalities were done. A phone, fax and bank account were opened at the office lent by the municipality. The same week eighteen candidate logos went to a vote — the story is on the logo page.
November 2013 — workshop and opening
A strategic planning workshop was held with townsfolk in the municipal wedding hall; goals were written under six headings (the 2013 plan). Forestry engineer Tamer Soylu gave a talk on nature. On 30 November the association opened.
What came next
The first classes with the Public Education Centre in January 2014, the first 21 scholarship students in February. The first general assembly in April 2014 had dissolution on its agenda; the members chose to carry on. The rest is on the board and aims and work pages.