PTAA Elections in September 2003

PTAA Elections are approaching in September. Here is a summary of PTAA activities.

Since the election of the new team of PTAA officers on October 12, 2002, we have worked with TASA (Turkish American Student Association of University of Pittsburgh) to jointly organize two successful events: On October 29, 2002, we had a 29 Ekim Bayrami celebration dinner. On November 17, 2002, we had a Turkish pop music concert by Ozan Orhon, visiting the USA from Turkey.

We also had a PTAA get-together party on February 16, 2003. On April 19, we held a 23-Nisan celebration party.

We consider that these events were successful and gave PTAA members, students, and other Turkish families in the tri-state area the opportunity to participate in Turkish activities.

As you may know, we also provide monetary support to worthy causes both in the USA and Turkey, either related to Turkish interests, or causes in the community we live.

We are a member of the ATAA (Assembly of Turkish American Associations) and pay yearly dues to them. We are proud to mention that one of our board members (Hakan Ilkin) was elected as the ATAA Vice president, representing the North-Central region of the USA. In passing, we would like to encourage you to also directly join ATAA as members to show the strength in numbers of the Turkish Americans in the USA.

Here are some examples of donations we sent for various worthy causes during this election year, so that you can see where your PTAA dues are used.

• July 2003 $15,000.00 to Sukru Koymen Ilkogretim Okulu – for repairs
• May 2003 $250.00 to Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)
• May 2003 $100.00 to Brother's Brother Foundation (in Pittsburgh)
• April 2003 $450.00 to Osmangazi University for a scholorship
• January, 2003 $1,200.00 to University of Pittsburgh TNR (Turkish Nationality Room)
• October 2002 $250.00 to Brother's Brother Foundation (in Pittsburgh)
• October 2002 $250.00 to Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)
• October 2002 $1,500.00 to University of Pittsburgh TNR (Turkish Nationality Room)

We are maintaining a non-profit organization registration in Pennsylvania, and a web page PTAA.org

We thank you again for your support, and encourage you to participate in PTAA activities with your ideas, projects, and time, in addition to your dues and donations. We work with a relatively small amount of money solely coming from a hardcore group of PTAA members, and time donated by the team of executive committee members: we truly appreciate your support.