Our Projects | Önce İnsan

People First in Different Geographies

With “People First” project, we aim to foster a lifelong sense of sustainable responsibility in young people of high school age by combining the philanthropic approach of one of our company’s founders, the late Şükrü Şankaya, with social responsibility and volunteering awareness. The social responsibility project, which began at Şükrü Şankaya Anatolian High School in 2019 under the name “People First: We Support the Work done with the Heart for Generations”, was included in the syllabus as a course in three high schools in its second year.

Our project, which made it to the final in the “Social Impact” category of the 2022 Sustainable Business Awards, extended its impact to the international level in 2023 and proceeds on its way in Egypt and Türkiye under the name “People First in Different Geographies”. In the project, for which we provide funding support as the Lacoste Foundation and Yeşim, students are given theoretical and practical volunteering training with the consultancy of the Contemporary Education and Culture Foundation (ÇEKVAK).

The World of Butterfly

Our “World of the Butterfly” project, which we embarked on with the slogan “If a woman changes, society changes”, has been helping women gain awareness of issues such as health, rights, and personal development since 2013.
Implementing to raise awareness among Yeşim’s female employees, the project has continued to expand its area of influence every year. The butterflies have flapped their wings for women living in disadvantaged areas by collaborating with Education Volunteers Foundation of Türkiye (TEGV), Foundation for Children with Leukemia (LÖSEV), Kızılay Girls’ Dormitory, and Şükrü Şankaya Primary School in Panayır, Bursa.
Only two years after the launch of the project, it became one of three projects that were awarded the highest funding from the "Soroptimist International of Europe (SIE) Action Fund" among 12 projects.
The project, which we conduct in cooperation with the Uludağ Soroptimist Club, is ongoing for women living in Karapınar District, where our main plant is located.

Ecollectiv

Touching the future of both nature and women
a knot,
an effect,
a community of values…
Ecollectiv.

As Yeşim Group, together with Uludağ Soroptimist Club, the women of Karapınar Women’s Cooperative, and the brands that want to share in this collective value targeting ecological balance and women’s employment, we have created an all-new brand: Ecollectiv.

While the women who came together at Karapınar Women’s Cooperative for this value have created products from the Yeşim Group’s waste textile fabrics with their own hands, many companies that support this value have also contributed to the formation of Ecollectiv.

Ecollectiv, which reflects our sensitivity towards nature and ecology with the word “Eco”, is also strengthened with the word “collective”, which means a community, a unity.

On this meaningful journey, every company that supports Ecollectiv joins not only a brand but also a community of values. With this community of values, a business idea has also been created that supports many of the clauses that make up the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our Stakeholders
ANL Creative - Avery Dennison – Afra Textile – Hedef Patent – Uludağ Soroptimist Club

Wish Tree

Within the scope of the “Wish Tree” project, Yeşim’s volunteers share in the happiness of children receiving treatment under the umbrella of LÖSEV/LÖDER by buying them gifts through the campaign they organize every New Year.

As part of the “Wishing Tree” project, which has been organized by the Yeşim Group’s Social Responsibility Club for many years, Yeşim employees randomly select children’s wishes from the “Wish Tree” established within the institution at the end of each year, and make the New Year dreams of children receiving treatment come true with the gifts they receive.

Equality at Home and Work

With the aim of ensuring gender equality in the workplace, we have implemented our “Equality at Home and Work” project in cooperation with Mor Salkım Women’s Solidarity Association. To develop a work culture that does not tolerate violence against women, we have established the “Yeşim Gender Equality Committee”, chaired by our Group’s Co-CEO Selim Şankaya and including a senior representative from every department. The committee has prepared Yeşim’s Gender Equality Policy.

Mor Salkım Women’s Solidarity Association provides shelter, legal and psychological support to our employees in need through the emergency helpline, which our employees can contact 24/7 in times of need.

Yeşim has been selected as one of 17 pilot companies in Türkiye for the “Workplace Policy Development and Implementation Guide for Combating Domestic Violence Against Women”, and aims to raise awareness of this issue among its employees with the “Equality at Home and Work” project.

Within the scope of the project, Parents’ School training sessions are held for Yeşim Kindergarten parents.

Yeşim Sports Club

“Yeşim Sports Club” was founded in 2003 to train future basketball players from the youth setup. To date, Yeşim Sports Club has given hundreds of children the opportunity to play sports; it has achieved many successes both in the province and nationwide and has become one of Turkey’s youth teams in the youth setup.

In addition to its successes, Yeşim Sports Club aims to leave a legacy in the form of a guide to young people with a passion for basketball. In 2023, Yeşim Sports Club published a book entitled “Golden Tips from Basketball Greats to Future Star Basketball Players”, which was compiled from recommendations given to youth athletes by well-known names of the Turkish basketball community.

To access the e-book version of “Golden Tips from Basketball Greats to Future Star Basketball Players” published by Yeşim Sports Club, click here.

Affection Support to Life

The “Affection Support to Life” project, which we launched in 2023, aims to draw attention to the problems experienced by our employees with relatives who are elderly or need care for various reasons, and to raise public awareness of this issue.

Zero Waste with TEMA Foundation

In the scope of the "Sustainability Month" activities celebrated every year in September, Yeşim Group aims to raise zero waste awareness among children through workshops organized in cooperation with TEMA Foundation.

In the workshops organized for Yeşim Kindergarten 6-year-olds and primary school students, children are informed about the effects of waste on the environment and the importance of recycling for the future of the world. These activities, which aim to create environmental awareness from an early age, reveal Yeşim Group's stance on sustainability and environmental responsibility.

These zero waste workshops organized by Yeşim Group in partnership with TEMA Foundation are considered as an important step towards the goal of leaving a more livable world to future generations as well as raising environmental awareness in children. With its vision of sustainability, Yeşim Group will continue to support environmentally friendly projects.

Bursa Platform for Women's Empowerment

Bursa Platform for Women's Empowerment, of which Yeşim Group is a founding member and which was launched in 2016 in cooperation with BUIKAD, BUSIAD and KalDer, aims to position Bursa as an exemplary province in the business world by bringing the work on gender equality and women's empowerment in Türkiye to Bursa.

The Bursa Platform, which operates under the UN Global Compact Türkiye Gender Equality Working Group, includes 39 WEPs (Women's Empowerment Principles) signatory companies from different sectors.

The platform brings together stakeholders related to women's empowerment and gender equality to support learning processes among companies; to ensure the dissemination of Women's Empowerment Principles across the country; to develop a common policy against domestic violence as a business world and thus to increase impact.

Food Waste is Turning into Animal Food

In the framework of the "Zero Waste Cooperation Protocol" between Yeşim Group and Yıldırım Municipality, Yeşim's food waste becomes food for animals. The project, which became operational with the protocol signed between the two institutions, supports the production of food for stray animals by collecting the waste food generated in Yeşim through the food facility operated by the Climate Change and Zero Waste Directorate of Yıldırım Municipality.

Within the scope of this protocol, Yeşim Group and Yıldırım Municipality will continue to work together for a sustainable environment and better living conditions.

Şükrü Şankaya Education Fund

Through the “Şükrü Şankaya Education Fund” established in 2006, we support the education of successful young people with insufficient financial means. Every year, Yeşim’s volunteers take part in fundraising campaigns through various activities.

Every step taken for education changes our lives!

The fund is regularly supported by Yeşim’s volunteers, customers and suppliers with happy day flowers, condolence cards and charity events.

The Yeşim Running Team runs every year in the name of the “TEV Şükrü Şankaya Scholarship Fund” so that young ladies can continue their university education.

For the last two years, the Lacoste Foundation has also been providing financial aid for the project “Every step taken for education changes our lives!”, which we support with mentorship and career training in addition to the scholarship program.

Şükrü Şankaya Primary School and Anatolian High School

As the Yeşim Group, we maintain the importance and support given to education by one of our founders, Şükrü Şankaya.

The education of children attending primary and high school is contributed with material aid and moral support provided to “Şükrü Şankaya Primary School” and “Şükrü Şankaya Anatolian High School”.