© KEYSTONE / ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE
La Chaîne du Bonheur is organizing a national day of solidarity in favor of the Ukrainian population in collaboration with the SSR on Wednesday. For this day alone, more than 50 million francs have been pledged.
“We have collected 51,547,615 francs at 11 p.m.,” Swiss Solidarity announced on Wednesday following the day of action. This sum is in addition to the more than 30 million pledges already received the previous evening, which brings the total amount collected to date to 82,653,403 francs, the organization said.
The event aims to respond to the scale of the humanitarian crisis and the surge of solidarity that is rising in Switzerland. “Rarely has a fundraiser started as strong as this morning,” said Jean-Marc Richard, the special operations host, on the air.
All sorts of personalities, like the former Federal Councilor Ruth Dreifuss, follow one another on the telephone to take note of pledges. The Friborg singer Gjon’s Tears also performed on French-speaking television on the occasion of this day of solidarity.
“The war in Ukraine is upsetting us all. It is precisely now that it is important to unite us and show our solidarity with the Ukrainian people, so hard hit, declared the President of the Confederation, Ignazio Cassis, on Tuesday. evening on public service television before speaking on Wednesday morning from 07:00 on SRF radio. The national fundraising day for the Swiss Solidarity Chain gives us an excellent opportunity.”
Already 30 million francs in donations
Since the launch of the collection, more than 30 million francs in donations had already reached Swiss Solidarity on Tuesday evening, said Sylvie Kipfer, communications manager, at Keystone-ATS. “We have to go back to the 2004 tidal wave in Thailand to find solidarity of this magnitude,” she said.
“We are extremely impressed by the solidarity that the Swiss population has expressed towards Ukrainians over the past few days,” said director Miren Bengoa in a statement.
In communication with its NGOs
In partnership with the SSR, the Chaîne du Bonheur is calling for donations on Wednesday on traditional TV and radio channels and on online channels from 07:00 to 23:00 with the support of regional radio stations and other media. Many personalities and volunteers are mobilizing and collecting pledges by telephone.
Swiss Solidarity is in constant communication with its partner NGOs present in the region who are working to develop assistance adapted to needs. In order to ensure a professional and targeted humanitarian response, the Foundation also sends two of its program department managers to the Polish border.
Donations for Ukraine can already be made online on the www.bonheur.ch website, by Twint or by transfer to the postal account 10-15000-6, mention “Ukraine”. During the national day of solidarity, the population is invited to dial 0800 87 07 07.