Delicard's charity partner in 2022 is the Aamu Suomen lasten syöpäsäätiö, Aamu Children's Cancer Foundation, which enables the best care and healthy adulthood for children with cancer in the world. Everyone who redeems Delicard’s charity gift will donate their gift to the charity in full. In 2021, Edenred and Delicard® customers raised a donation of € 189,186 to SOS Children's Village through charity gift redemptions.
In the spring of 2021, our CEO Peter Hiltunen (right), donated 189 186 € to SOS Children’s Village Finland on behalf of Edenred and Delicard customers. The donation was received by SOS Children’s Village Finland’s Project Designer Päivi Häikiö (left) and Corporate Relations Manager Annemi Usva-Vänttinen (middle).
The donation was made possible by Delicard gift card recipients. They chose to donate their gift card balance for SOS Children’s Villages' ”Dreams come true’’ recreational activity aid project. The amount donated was remarkable and, it enables hundreds of children to participate in recreational activities for a whole year. Päivi and Annemi have received fantastic feedback following the donation. People have congratulated them and rejoiced in the phenomenal donation. It goes to show that the cause is very worthwhile.
SOS Children’s Village’s Dreams Come True recreational activity aid helps children in families facing a challenging situation, who otherwise couldn’t provide the means for their children to start a new hobby or carry on in their old ones. Whether the help is needed temporarily or longer-term, each applicant is assessed as an individual in a unique situation. The child is at the center of attention and, their wishes and interests are carefully listened to – and there is no such thing as dreaming too big.
The significant donation came at the right time
The donation couldn’t have come at a better time. Due to Covid-19, the need for recreational activity aid has been greater than ever, and so has the demand for it from families, municipalities, school counselors, family social workers, and activity organizers. Plans of rapid growth in operations are expected in the fall of 2021 as new municipalities are joining in.
There are over 120 000 children in Finland that come from families in need. That puts them in a very disadvantaged position regarding hobbies as well. The recreational aid is aimed at those who need it the most and can’t participate in hobbies without it. SOS Children’s Village wants to offer children the chance to reach their full potential, and the donation gives them more means to do so.
”Participating in hobbies is empowering for the child, it helps with their development and finding their strengths. At best the positive effects are life-long.”
– SOS Children’s Villages Finland’s Project Designer Päivi Häikiö.
The aid is intended for kids and teens aged 7 to 17. Many hobbies are in a critically supportive role, preventing social exclusion, enabling personal development, and construction of social environment and skills. In addition to making dreams come true and providing financial support, the aid brings hope to families experiencing difficulties.
Making children’s Dreams Come True – together
SOS Children’s Village’s recreational aid helps with a large variety of hobbies. These include football, horseback riding, floorball, music lessons, and even theater classes. Donations make it possible for SOS Children’s Villages to provide more options for children and make more dreams come true.
”Our goal is that each child and teen gets the support to grow and reach their full potential. Edenred and Delicard recipients, who decided to donate their giftcard balance, are now helping us do good together. The donation enables hobbies for hundreds of children for a whole year. A sincere thank you to the huge amount of donators who wanted to help kids in the middle of a pandemic.”
– SOS Children’s Villages Finland’s Corporate Relations Manager Annemi Usva-Vänttinen
SOS Children’s Villages points out that making dreams come true is a team effort TOGETHER with partners, families, and donators – small steps to help lead to an actual impact. Anyone can help and donate through their website. Even a small donation is a huge help.
Read more on their website.
”This donation ensures meaningful hobbies, recreational activities, and contacts to safe adults for children living in families experiencing financial distress. I want to sincerely thank our customers, whose individual donations accumulated to this spectacular amount. It truly is touching to see thousands of people choose to donate towards the prevention of social exclusion of teens and kids.”
– Edenred Finland's CEO Peter Hiltunen
At Edenred, we want to thank our Delicard customers and those who donated to SOS Children's Village – together we can make Dreams Come True!