The award ceremony took place today at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, where awards were given out for the most creative Star Weeks children’s fundraising campaigns. A total of around 550 children and adults attended the event. The winners were children from Riggisberg (BE), Oberbottigen (BE), Denens (VD) and Degersheim (SG). Almost 4,500 children collected CHF 370,000 in donations for Madagascar.
Award Ceremony 2023
The Star Weeks campaign is organized jointly by UNICEF and the magazine Schweizer Familie. During Star Weeks, children in Switzerland and Liechtenstein get involved with creative fundraising ideas that benefit other children in need. Since 2004, more than 130,000 children have collected around CHF 8.3 million, impressively demonstrating their solidarity for children in need. Swiss celebrities including Kunz, Naomi Lareine, Marius & die Jagdkapelle and Sandra Studer, who hosted the event, were also present at today’s ceremony. Twelve campaigns were nominated across four different categories.
Here are this year’s winners:
Category: Individual Child
Kian Friedrich, 2011, Riggisberg (BE)
Kian sold scratch cards door to door for CHF 0.50 each. Every ticket was a winner. You were allowed to scratch off three of the four squares. If you uncovered two stars, you won a bag of cookies or candy. If you uncovered one star, however, two amounts between CHF 0.50 and CHF 60 would appear. The winner could then choose whether to donate the higher or lower amount. Kian’s campaign raised CHF 575.
Category: Friends/Siblings
A group of friends from Oberbottigen (BE)
The group of friends, consisting of Nevio (2012) and Mona (2011) Santschi, Ella Stürmer (2010), Larissa Riecker (2011), and Mena (2011) and Elin (2006) von Niederhäusern, have already participated in Star Weeks several times with their fundraising campaign. They have increased their proceeds every year. As in previous years, they organized a Sternenmärit Christmas market at their village church, selling products that they had made themselves and serving coffee and cake. This year, they also put on a scavenger hunt. The friends collected CHF 2,717 thanks to this idea.
Category: Families
Breynaert family, Denens (VD)
The three siblings Manon (2013), Hanaé (2015) and Aurélien (2017) Breynaert helped elderly people with everyday tasks. These included grocery shopping, dog walking, cleaning apartments and gardening. In return, they received small donations and collected a total of CHF 400.
Category: Schools
Degersheim School, Marianne Holenstein, 3. Oberstufe, Degersheim (SG)
The students in a 3. Oberstufe secondary school class at Degersheim School made, fired and glazed over a hundred clay bowls decorated with different African patterns. They then collected food from acquaintances, neighbors and friends. This was used to cook soup, which they then sold together with the clay bowls. The students also created their own flyers and posters to raise awareness of the fundraising campaign and inform people about the sale. They also edited a digital storytelling video about the creative process. The idea behind the “Empty Bowl” project originally came from potters in the United States. The campaign raised CHF 1,915.
Almost 4,500 children collected CHF 370,000 for Madagascar
During this year’s Star Weeks, almost 4,500 children raised a total of CHF 370,000 with their campaigns. The slogan of this year’s Star Weeks was “Stopping hunger in Madagascar”. In the south of the island, where climate change has caused the worst drought in 40 years, many families are starving. Half of all children are chronically malnourished, with children under the age of five in particular so severely malnourished that their lives are in danger. They are in urgent need of support. The Star Weeks campaign is committed to the survival of these children. Through the fundraising campaign, UNICEF makes it possible to provide acutely malnourished children with specialized food and with medical and material aid. This aid enables health center workers to treat acute cases and monitor children at risk.
Star Weeks is supported by the school magazine Spick.
Detailed information about Star Weeks:
www.sternenwochen.ch
Service for editors:
- Download link for images can be found here.
- For interview requests from regional and local media: Jürg Keim, Media Spokesperson for UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein, +41 44 317 22 41, j.keim@unicef.ch
