The year 2020 has passed and it’s hard to believe that even the first month of the new one is almost over as well. At SupplyOn things are also back to normal. In our minds, Christmas is just a distant memory. Therefore, we were all the more surprised when we found thank-you cards and photos of happy children from Christmas Eve in the mail. The mission of our Christmas campaign of the “Münchener Geschenkeregen” (Munich Gift Rain) has been a complete success. We really could bring smiles on the children’s faces, and not too few of them.
In the article Charity “Münchner Geschenkeregen“: Bringing smiles on children’s faces we have already informed you about the development of the charity project. The latest update: We brought the gifts to the facility of the Feldkirchen Protestant Child and Youth Welfare Center. But what is the story behind the project and how were the gifts received by the kids?
Charity Meets Challenge: How come we participated?
The campaign “Münchener Geschenkeregen” was initiated by the Charity Meets Challenge e.V. association. In the past years, it had also organized annual charity corporate soccer cups (in times when community sports were still possible without any health concerns). In these events, SupplyOn competed several times for the title of “Munich’s best corporate soccer team”. Since this fundraising championship had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, we decided to take part in the Christmas fundraising campaign instead. Here, Christmas gifts are donated to children who cannot live with their parents.
SupplyOn supported the facility in Feldkirchen
The “Münchener Geschenkeregen” assigns participating companies to charities of corresponding size, depending on the number of employees of the firms. The facilities then send wish lists to their matched company. This is when the Christmas magic happens with the collection of gifts.
In this process, SupplyOn was commissioned with the wishes of the children of Feldkirchen Protestant Child and Youth Welfare Center. It is a curative education facility run by the Diakonie. The children and teenagers live in different residential communities. Depending on their age and needs, they stay in curative and intensive educational, trauma-therapeutic or (partially) assisted living groups. As these children cannot live with their parents due to social, psychological and/or family difficulties, they find a new home in the residential groups.
2020 posed particularly tragic challenges on them, because many of the children and teenagers could not receive visits from their parents due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even on their birthday, phone calls were often their only option. We are therefore very happy that we had the chance to bring at least some joy to them at Christmas.
What happened after we handed over the gifts to the facility?
From the facility’s headquarters in Feldkirchen, the team leaders collected the gifts on behalf of their residential groups. Unwrapping took place at different times. Some children and teenagers already got their presents before Christmas Eve, because they had the opportunity to visit their families over the holidays. Others either could or cannot go home in general. They received their gifts on the evening of December 24, as it is common in most families here in Germany.
We asked Andreas Hüner (head of Feldkirchen Protestant Child and Youth Welfare Center) how the children liked their presents:
It was amazing. The children who got the jumpsuits wear them almost all the time, according to the colleague. Of course, the current restrictions have done their part here. The jumpsuit is wonderful for just comfortably hanging and chilling on the living room couch, or on the couch in their own rooms and simply feel good. Such clothes often also bring about feelings of warmth, self-comfort and assurance as they cover the entire body
Another residential group asked for a music box as a group gift. It is now a constant companion for group activities, say Hüner, quoting a child: “We can now listen to our own music also on trips. Really cool!”
For Andreas Hüner, the campaign of the Münchener Geschenkeregen is a blessing for these children and adolescents, who often miss their families, particularly on such sensitive holidays. He says further:
We give presents to the children, too. But this campaign allows for more individual gifts and or even special group-wide presents. This is just wonderful and we are very grateful for it.
Giving can be just as fulfilling as receiving gifts. We at SupplyOn are also grateful for the chance to participate in such a great campaign and that we were able to bring such joy to the children and adolescents with our gifts.
