The Daruj Kelímek project has declared the 2023 Brno Christmas campaign as a success, as CZK 3,307,225 was collected for 18 different charities, around CZK 400,000 more than last year. The campaign contributed to the positive assessment of the Brno Christmas markets, which were named the best in Europe. In cooperation with the market on Zelny Trh, the organisers of Daruj Kelímek also contributed to the fund for the victims and survivors of the tragedy that happened before Christmas at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University (FF UK).
Daruj Kelímek works on a simple principle: as part of their visit to the Brno Christmas markets in Brno, visitors can return their reserved mug at one of the Daruj Kelimek stands after finishing their hot drink, and thus donate fifty crowns to one of the 18 charitable projects of their choice. 100% of the donations collected will be distributed among the beneficiaries, which were divided into six categories to help donors choose.
“We started the fundraiser believing that it could help charities by connecting the Christmas season with generosity,” said the executive director of Daruj Kelímek, Ondřej Šibřina. “This year, almost CZK 400,000 more was collected than last year. At the beginning, we never imagined that the project could reach such dimensions.”
This year, an option was added to donate a cup to all the organisations. “Sometimes you want to help everyone and it’s hard to choose one of the 18 charities, so we added an option where people can donate to all of them at once. In the end, the donated amount was divided equally between all organisations,” explained collection coordinator Natálie Miklánková.
In addition, people were able to donate a “virtual cup” using a QR code. “We wanted it to be possible to donate even from the comfort of one’s home. For these purposes, a transparent account was placed on the website, where any amount could be sent to any organisation at any time and from anywhere,” said Adam Vodička, councillor of the collection.
Help for survivors of the FF UK tragedy
Daruj Kelimek’s collection was supposed to culminate at Zelny Trh the day before Christmas Day with a ceremonial announcement and accompanying program. Due to the tragedy in Prague at the FF UK, the organisers decided to change the announcement into a commemorative event.
The presentation of the donation cheques and the illumination of the lights for a good cause remained part of the event, and a minute’s silence was added. Originally, market participants were supposed to donate 50 crowns for everyone who came to the announcement and turned on the light on their mobile phone. The total amount was to be divided equally between all 18 charities that were part of the Daruj Kelímek collection.
The principle remained the same, but due to the circumstances, the amount collected from the sellers went to a transparent account created to help the victims and survivors of the Prague tragedy. “It turns out that the market sellers have their hearts in the right place, with many of them sending more money. In the end, CZK 29,827 was raised to help Prague,” said Ondřej Reich, councillor of collections.
Since its inception, the Daruj Kelímek charity collection has highlighted the values of solidarity, mutual aid, and social cohesion. In the future, the organisers are considering expanding the project to other cities.
