On an ordinary Monday, Burtay was doing what he always did, working with data at his office, when news of the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye appeared on his screen. Although he had no family in the affected region, he felt the weight of the tragedy and knew he wanted to help.
Like millions of people around the world, he searched online for a trusted way to support the relief effort. That search led him to Turkish Philanthropy Funds.
After learning more about TPF and its earthquake response, Burtay made a donation. But he soon realized that he wanted to do more. Together with two Turkish American colleagues, Elif Şensürücü and Cengiz Bektaş, he organized a fundraising campaign within his company. What began as a simple idea quickly grew into a collective effort, raising more than $10,000 for the TPF Earthquake Fund to support urgent relief efforts.
For Burtay, however, raising funds was only the beginning.
He reached out to TPF to introduce himself, offering his time and expertise as a technology professional. As donations poured in from around the world, TPF faced an unexpected challenge: managing an extraordinary volume of information while responding to one of the largest humanitarian crises in the organization's history.
Burtay immediately saw where he could help. Together with Elif and Cengiz, he volunteered his expertise to analyze donation flows and build systems that helped organize and make sense of the incoming data. Their work happened almost entirely behind the scenes, but it gave the TPF team clearer information, faster decision-making, and more time to focus on what mattered most: delivering support to communities affected by the disaster.
What began as a search for a place to give became something much more meaningful.
Burtay found a community where his generosity, skills, and commitment could all make a difference.
Today, he continues to volunteer his expertise, helping strengthen TPF's technology infrastructure and database systems while remaining an active member of the TPF community. Whether supporting new initiatives, solving technical challenges, or lending a hand whenever it is needed, he continues to show up with the same generosity that first brought him to TPF.
His story is a reminder that philanthropy is not measured only by financial contributions. Sometimes the most meaningful gifts are our time, our knowledge, and our willingness to help others succeed. Those are the connections that strengthen communities and make lasting impact possible.