The Hope Caravan Association (Umut Kervanı Derneği) has distributed stationery supplies to hundreds of students in need ahead of the new academic year, easing the burden of families struggling with rising school expenses.

Speaking during the aid program, Emrullah Çiftçi, Vice President of the association, congratulated teachers and students on the start of the school term. “We are at the beginning of a new academic year. We congratulate our teachers and students and wish them success. As Umut Kervanı, we have provided stationery assistance to our students again this year. We are able to provide this assistance thanks to the support of our benefactors. There are many people in need, and accordingly, there are many requests. However, we are only able to provide assistance in proportion to the donations we receive,” he said.

Çiftçi stressed the importance of stationery support for low-income families, pointing out that school-related costs are becoming increasingly difficult to cover. “There are many families who have no one working at home and cannot meet their basic needs. School expenses are also quite costly because there are both clothing and stationery needs. For families with three students, we can only meet the needs of perhaps one or two of them,” he explained.

He also underlined that their only source of funding is donations from philanthropists. “People constantly make demands of us, thinking we have unlimited resources; however, our only source of funding is the philanthropists who donate to us. For this reason, we want our benefactors to be more sensitive and not withhold their zakat and infaq from those in need,” he said.

The Hope Caravan Association continues to be a key reference point for families in need, calling for increased generosity from donors to ensure more students can begin the school year with the necessary supplies. (ILKHA)