Record Result: €8.8 Million For ‘RTL-Spendenmarathon’

This year's "RTL-Spendenmarathon" telethon set a new record, raising €8,827,419 in donations for charity. "I want to thank all our viewers who helped set this fantastic record. With their donations, 'RTL - Wir helfen Kindern' can once more provide long-term help and support to many children in Germany and all over the world," said Anke Schäferkordt, RTL Managing Director and Chairwoman of "RTL - Wir helfen Kindern." "Since the foundation’s activities focus especially on underprivileged children in Germany, I am especially happy that we will be able to not only continue our support for the existing RTL children's homes, but can also open additional ones."

After spending 24.5 hours live on the air, presenter Wolfram Kons also thanked donors for the sensational result: "Over the last few days, the press has been full of stories of Germans’ willingness to give to charity being in decline. So today's record means a great, great deal to my team and me. It goes to show that our viewers and partners' trust in us is huge and has grown even larger. I want to wholeheartedly thank any and all who have supported us over the past year and the past 24 hours." "RTL - Wir helfen Kindern" will give viewers regularly and transparent information about what is happening with their donations.

Endurance athlete Joey Kelly also succeeded in setting his next Guinness World Record, this time for "most walked steps on an escalator going in the opposite direction in 24 hours.” He covered 50,000 steps and an altitude difference of 11,700 meters since the launch of the "RTL-Spendenmarathon" last Thursday at 6:00 pm – about 17,000 more than he needed to in order to break the record. “Even though it was very tough, I'm just happily to be a part of this wonderful telethon team," said Kelly, who handed over a check for €120,000 after his outstanding athletic feat.
Numerous celebrities such as the project patrons Andrea Berg, Christine Neubauer, Magdalena Brzeska, Bettina Wulff, Annett Möller, Jana Ina Zarrella, Katja Burkard, Birgit Schrowange and Sylvie van der Vaart also gave their all in this year’s "RTL-Spendenmarathon," as live guests in the studio. Steffi Graf, Tokio Hotel, Jogi Löw, Thomas Gottschalk, Heiner Brand, Jens Nowotny, Henry Maske, Rainer Calmund, Markus Lüpertz, Atze Schröder, Fernanda Brandao, Guildo Horn, Patrick Lindner, Jürgen Milski, Cindy Crawford, the Olympic champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, and the German Olympic rowing eight also supported the longest charity show on German television.