News | RTL Group | Cologne, 04/14/2022

‘Stiftung RTL – Wir Helfen Kindern’ Foundation Raises More Than €25 Million

Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, the “Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern” (RTL Stiftung – We help children) foundation began appealing for donations on all channels. Since then, it has received more than €25 million in donations. The funds are being used to support emergency aid projects for Ukrainian children and their families.

Immediately after the first attacks by the Russian army on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the “Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern e. V.” (RTL Stiftung – We help children) launched a comprehensive fundraising campaign together with RTL Deutschland and called for donations on all channels. Viewers and online users’ willingness to donate was enormous right from the start. Since then, more than €25 million have been raised for the foundation’s emergency relief projects for Ukrainian children and their families.

“More than 25 million euros in donations since the war began is a truly overwhelming tally. Many thanks to everyone who has donated. But the war continues. Millions of children and their families are in mortal danger in war zones or on the run,” says Wolfram Kons, overall charity director at RTL and deputy chairman of “Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern.” “In Germany, we are in for a peaceful and happy Easter. What would the people in Ukraine give to be able to celebrate without fear and in peace? That is precisely why we must not abandon them now. We must continue to help them and make them feel every day that they are not alone in this terrible situation.”

Donations go straight to the projects without deduction

Nearly all of the money collected has already been paid out directly to the helpers at the “Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern” partner organizations on site, without a cent of deductions. Longstanding partners including the SOS Children’s Villages Worldwide, Hermann Gmeiner Fund Germany, German Committee for UNICEF, Malteser Hilfsdienst, German medical relief organization Action Medeor, German Caritas Association/Caritas International, UN Refugee Aid, and I.S.A.R. Germany Foundation have been helping on the ground in Ukraine since the early days of the war. They and numerous other partners are also carrying out life-saving measures at the borders for people who have fled their homes – helping to find accommodation, helping refugees with transport to their destinations, and also providing long-term support.