‘MADISON, Wis.—In the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) is reporting it has provided a $30,100 grant to Tarim Kredi (Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey) through the Turkish Cooperative Earthquake Relief Fund to purchase more than 40 air conditioners that will allow for safer conditions for 126 workers and 20,489 members affected by the quakes.
As CUToday.info reported earlier, after the 7.5 and 7.8 magnitude earthquakes struck southern Turkey, WFCU, in partnership with World Council of Credit Unions, launched its Turkish Cooperative Earthquake Relief Fund in February and provided ten portable office units to continue operations and house employees in need by April.
Contributing to Food Security
The Worldwide Foundation said that not only did the $41,000 grant allow for daily operations to continue, the seven cooperatives that received them helped their member farmers continue agricultural production and contribute to the food security of the devastated region.
“If it were not for the portable office, we could not continue our operations as our building was out-of-use there, which provides 50% of our yearly sales,” the WFCU quoted Figen Canbay Çiğdem, representative of Akçadağ Agricultural Credit Cooperative in Malatya, as saying.
Office Doubles as Housing
The organization noted that as temperatures in Turkey drastically change, the Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey needed a way to safely maintain temperatures for the new office units that doubled as housing.
According to the foundation, its $30,100 grant to procure over 40 air conditioners will provide safer working and living environments for 126 personnel working for 30 cooperatives, one service bureau and one regional union located in even earthquake-affected provinces.
The air conditioners will also provide relief for their 20,489 farmer members regularly visiting these office spaces for financial services, the foundation added.
A Thank You Offered
“On behalf of Tarım Kredi and my country, I would like to thank WFCU, WOCCU and the credit union community for the support they have shown since the first week of the disaster. We have been collaborating with WFCU to mitigate the impacts of the earthquakes . . . and to create a safe environment for our staff,” the foundation quoted Okan Ateş, deputy director general of the Central Union of Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey, as saying.
The foundation said that with 1,617 cooperatives serving 800,000 members, Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey is not only the country’s leading agricultural credit cooperative but the largest agricultural organization in Turkey.
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