Santa claus is found in 11.332 Danish home these days. Not that the plump man with white beard and red julemandsdragt, but in the form of the envelope from the Danish people’s aid, who in recent days have contained the happy message that the food and gift cards to toys and sports equipment to a value of a total of 1500 crowns can help to make the holidays 2018 to a good experience also, for many of them, if the economy is otherwise not to the delicious christmas food, gifts and larger arm movements.
Since Ekstra Bladet and Danish people’s aid in 2007 collected over 600,000 crowns at the first gathering for julehjælp, there has been many things both with indsamlingsresultatet and the Danish attitude to inequality and poverty. Profit for the year at 14.7 million. crowns is a new record and surpassing last year’s ditto on 12.4 million. crowns.
– the end result is absolutely fantastic and surpasses even my most positive hopes. I thought in advance that it would be nice if we could reach last year’s result, says Klaus Nørlem, secretary general Danish people’s aid, to Ekstra Bladet.
Rekordresultatet means that 11.332 families – and overall, the 31.404 children and adults – receive julehjælp from the Danish people’s aid. At one and the same time gratifying and scary.
In total 15.239 families sought for julehjælp in the year. This means that nearly 4 000 was refused. The selection out in the municipalities has been relentless in building on the four criteria, the applicants must possess in order to be considered: the single father or mother, children under the age of 18 years, the applicant must be on welfare and have the maintenance of the children.
– If we are to be closer to the goal of being able to give to all, we must have more partners as Elkjøp, the Labour movement Business council and REMA 1000. Several alliances of the character will be able to lift the collection even more, assesses Klaus Nørlem.
in addition to a variety of companies and organizations have almost 100,000 private danes donated amount on everything from a 20 to several thousand crowns to the collection.
– The greater awareness in the population about our collection has certainly helped that the number of applicants has been steadily increasing all these years. However, it does not know that poverty track record also has been in constant increase for many years, points out the secretary general of the Danish people’s aid.
For Klaus Nørlem is the most significant, positive development around the now 12-year-old cooperation with Extra Leaf to help some of the many danes who live with deprivation, disease and poor economy, that the debate on inequality and poverty higher up on the agenda and being taken seriously.
– Ekstra Bladet has now for many years brought a series of interviews with a small sample of the many candidates in the weeks leading towards christmas. It is done so in a way, where In the meetings of these people in the eye and take them seriously. They have given a platform to tell of how life and everyday looks, when you have to turn every penny and at the same time try to give his children a good upbringing.
– I think that these many interviews through the years has been to qualify the debate and make many other danes can better relate to and understand what it means to have it hard in an otherwise rich society such as our own, says Klaus Nørlem.
