Not 300 Spartans, but 22 TIDERians!

This time, I decided to change the format. Watch the video first, then read the article. 🙂

For us, the Runatolia campaign started late. Between the pressure at the association, the current situation in the country, and the loss of Murat Bakan, we couldn’t get started. Finally, we rolled up our sleeves and dove right in. But what a waste!

We created a successful video. Everyone loved it. I’d like to thank Serkan Koç from 49/51 for the design, copywriting, and production of this video. Dost Kip and Ege Işık from the communications team also contributed. I’d like to share our video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8573pj_nAc

Then, as we were trying to gather people to start the campaign, the deadline arrived, and we fell far short of our target of 50 campaigners; we only managed to convince 22. Beyond the campaign’s late start, the reason for this was our inability to convince people to come to Antalya and the natural fatigue that followed the previous Istanbul Marathon. How were we going to raise the actual fund, 50,000 TL?

At the previous Istanbul Marathon, we managed to raise 120,000 TL with approximately 150 people. I didn’t even want to think about how much money we could raise with just 22 people, “pro rata.”

However, having 22 people had an advantage. Our Adım Adım NGO representative, Pınar Erdem, created a WhatsApp group. The high volume of messages in this group made it clear that our volunteers who launched the campaign would do everything they could. This gave me hope.

Our victory pose with our Adım Adım NGO representative Pınar Erdem after the run

 Then, as the campaign progressed, our team’s momentum increased. The group chats were filled with all sorts of jokes, encouragement, moral support, ideas, and so on. But believe me, it worked incredibly well. An incredible synergy emerged. As our donations increased, so did our confidence, and we steadily increased our pace of work. There were some latecomers, but they did a fantastic job as well.

Runatolia, which felt like a festival, arrived. We had already surpassed half of our 50,000 TL target before entering the race. This gave us even more hope. Statistically, the main donations come after the race.

The warm-up run we did with the TIDER guys before the race started.

The crowd behind the starting line, minutes before the race.

 What we experienced there also motivated the entire group. Those who initiated the campaign continued their work at full speed. I’d like to share my previous blog post about this: http://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/festival-tadinda-bir-kosu-runatolia-2017

Finally, on the day we won the GFN (Global Foodbanking Network) Innovation Award in Houston, last Thursday, we received the news that our donations had surpassed 50,000 TL. Naturally, I congratulated everyone in the correspondence and expressed my gratitude. I even made a joke of my own. Using the phrase in the title of this post, I said, “Not 300 Spartans, but 22 TIDERians, well done everyone.”

Let me tell you right away for those who don’t know the legend of the Spartans. To confront the overwhelmingly large and powerful Persian army, 300 elite Spartan soldiers set out and managed to stop this massive army at a narrow pass, right at the crossroads. The 300 Spartans’ fighting methods were unparalleled; They can stack their shields and form a formidable force together. This is where our 22 TIDERians come to mind. Even though their numbers are incomparably small, they manage to drive tens of thousands of soldiers into the sea. Here’s that famous scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYIAxSDMXls

While I didn’t get my hopes up too much, I was feeling a boost before the award ceremony was announced. Winning the award was a real treat. I’ll write about this Innovation Award in my next blog post.

Our representative, Pınar, informed the group that Adım Adım could raise our goal to 55,000 TL. The deadline was running out at 11:59 PM on Sunday night. I replied, “We can easily surpass 55,000 TL by the weekend; no one should have any doubt about that.” And indeed, that’s exactly what happened.

Around 2:00 PM on Sunday, the news that we had surpassed 55,000 TL was shared within the group. There was a true festive atmosphere. Ultimately, we closed our campaign with ₺55,783. Here are the summaries of TIDER’s total campaign and my own campaign:

I would like to thank each and every one of our 22 TIDER brothers and sisters who launched a campaign and worked tirelessly to collect donations, no matter what.

Here are 15 of the 22 TIDERli

List of our 22 TIDER friends (in alphabetical order):

I’d also like to share the top fundraisers, both in total and in number of people. The top three fundraisers are Ekin Türesay, Ayşe Özden, and Nurten Aktürk. The top fundraisers are Ayşe Özden, Ekin Türesay, and Selen İnal, respectively. Ayşe, in particular, raised over 300 donations, setting a record not only on TIDER but across the entire Adım Adım platform.

Many congratulations and thanks again to everyone.

I’d also like to extend a personal thank you to those who supported my campaign. Below are the names of these 37 individuals, who hold a special place in my heart (in alphabetical order):

I’d also like to thank those who donated the most to my campaign: Velit Gazel, Engin Kale, Tarkan Ersubaşı, and Can İkinci (both of whom are third with the same donation amount). I’d also like to extend my thanks to Ali Tarkan Tekcan, Burcu Başçı, Can İkinci, Cenap Kuloğlu, Çiğdem Kogar, Engin Kale, and Pınar Kurt, who donated to my campaign twice in a row, both for the Istanbul Marathon and the Antalya Marathon.

I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the 22 TIDER members who launched a campaign on Runatolia and performed incredibly well, to those who donated to their campaigns, to the 37 people who donated to my campaign on Runatolia, to the 150 TIDER members who launched a campaign at the previous Istanbul Marathon and donated to their campaigns, to everyone who donated to my own campaign at the previous Istanbul Marathon, and, of course, to the Adım Adım platform, which gave us this opportunity and spurred our significant fundraising efforts.

Thanks to you, we will be able to open our Support Market in Bağcılar. Everything is nearing completion. We will share the good news soon. Thanks to your support, we will have the opportunity to help approximately 100,000 families. This means we’ve raised the bar significantly after our pilot project in Maltepe, where we helped 5,000 families. Rest assured, after the Support Market in Bağcılar, we will continue to strive for even greater goals thanks to your support.

Stay well and stay well.