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Turtle Cares
Turtle Cares focuses its resources on elementary schools around Houston, TX where 78.45 percent of students are economically disadvantaged. We passionately believe that schools are meant to be a safe haven for children regardless of their home life situation. Every school should be a sanctuary for healthy learning and social interaction while our children grow and have fun.
A proper learning environment should stimulate curiosity and encourage our children to grow intellectually. That is why Turtle Cares specifically focuses on improving a school's environmental ambiance. Whether it requires freshly painting surfaces in vibrant colors, planting flower and landscaping, or sprucing up the overall look and feel of the school yard, our dedication drives us to make the environmental improvements necessary for young minds to reach their full potential.
Turtle Cares Events 
May 2021 - Military Appreciation Month
To show our military personal how much we care, Ossy International is connecting Houston students with active-duty military through our pen pal program. Students write appreciation letters, Ossy pairs them with goodie bags, and then they are shipped to our troops who are not allowed to come home in compliance with Federal COVID protocols. This grassroots effort started with Memorial Elementary students in Houston, which has a rich military history itself. In the future, Turtle Cares looks forward to engaging additional Huston schools in our "Notes to Active-duty Military" program.
April 2021 - Memorial Elementary School
No one views the world as bright or as pretty as a child. Despite harsh realities, children think and dream the way an adult never will — resolute and full of hope. While innocence makes children vulnerable, it's the very same quality that makes them so strong. In spite of the woes that befall us in life, a glimmer of hope always sparkles in the eyes a child.
At times it may seem as though there is nothing that you can do to bring color into the world, but there is. Invest in our children, invest in improving their learning environment.
It is said that if you ever wish to see a rainbow, ask one who can see it in spite of the the rain.
March 2021 - Garden Day At at Memorial Elementary School.
Turtle Cares, through Ossy International, strongly supports community involvement through leading by example. At Memorial Elementary School, we planted roses, removed a dying palm tree, fertilized the grounds, and manicured the grass.
Advocate Director - Sarah Bunjaku
Advocacy Director - Sarah Bunjaku Sarah Bunjaku is the board director of Turtle Cares. A native to Houston, Sarah is the beloved daughter of Albanian immigrants who found shelter in the United States after the breakup of former Yugoslavia. Growing up, her parents relayed the crippling conditions imposed on their home country during the Cold War. Her mother and aunt always said, "We grew up in a gray and foggy world.” One thing Sarah learned from aunt is that color inspires. In time, Sarah realized the tremendous impact that colors have on a person's mental wellbeing.
From 2016 to 2020, Sarah was an active volunteer at the Longhorn Project*. She dedicating her Saturdays to tending garden beds for the project site, cleaning the pond, planting new vegetables, and caring for the greenhouse plants. As a hot spot for Clear Creek ISD elementary-school field trips, it was important to Sarah that she created a positive environment for students to visit. Students spent hours learning about plants, animals, insects, and how to practice environmentally responsible habits.
Sarah wanted to invest all that she had learned to schools in and around Huston, TX. Her opportunity came in 2020 with the formation of Turtle Cares. Since then she has been working tirelessly to add color to Huston schools and brighten our children's daily life.
*The Longhorn Project at Johnson Space Center is a one-of-a-kind hands-on educational program. It was created as a joint venture between The Longhorn Project, a 501(c) (3) charitable nonprofit organization, NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), the Houston Livestock and RodeoTM, Clear Creek Independent School District, and the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America.
