Learn Turkish: Kreş yardımı ve yemek kuponları sayesinde bütçemiz rahatlıyor. - Thanks to the daycare assistance and food vouchers, our budget is relieved.

The postposition sayesinde (thanks to) takes the bare form (nominative case) when following a regular noun or noun phrase. Therefore, the phrase kreş yardımı ve yemek kuponları connects directly to it. However, keep in mind that if you use it with a personal pronoun, it does take the genitive case and requires a matching possessive suffix on the postposition (e.g., benim sayemde = thanks to me).

How would this sentence change if I used the lesson's target phrase, yanı sıra (along with / besides)?

If you wanted to say "Besides daycare assistance and food vouchers...", you would need to add the genitive case to the end of the noun phrase. It would become kreş yardımı ve yemek kuponlarının yanı sıra. While sayesinde explains the cause of the relief, yanı sıra would simply mean these benefits exist in addition to something else.

Why do yardım and kuponlar end with the -ı suffix here?

They are the second halves of indefinite noun compounds, which are formed when one noun modifies another. Kreş (daycare) and yardım (assistance) combine to make kreş yardımı. Likewise, yemek (food) and kuponlar (vouchers) form yemek kuponları. The -ı is the 3rd-person possessive suffix that glues the second noun to the first.

What is the root of the verb , and why does it have an in the middle?