22.12.2007

Christmas parcel from the Egmont Foundation

Every year, the Egmont Foundation gives more than 300 families a boost by helping them at Christmas. The families cannot apply for the Christmas aid themselves – they must be recommended by the social authorities.

Each December, a parcel from the Egmont Foundation arrives in the mailbox of many Danish homes. The content is always the same: A present for each child in the family and a DKK 300 check per person in the household. This is the Egmont Foundation’s Christmas aid, inaugurated in 1994. Since then, 400 people a year on average have received Christmas presents from the Foundation. To be eligible for the Christmas parcel, the recipient must be a single parent with one or more children living at home and a maximum disposable monthly sum of DKK 3,900. But they cannot apply for the Christmas aid themselves, they must be recommended by the social authorities, their social workers, for example.

“The idea is to help families with little means to give their children a better Christmas without affecting their self-respect,” explains Margrethe Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille, managing director of the Egmont Foundations Aid and Grant Administration:

“We normally call our Christmas aid dignified help at a difficult time. Our impression is that celebrating Christmas is hard if you are not well off, and that’s why the Egmont Foundation tries to do something to brighten the high season.”

Gift vouchers and books
A lot of thought has been put into what form of help to give at Christmas. The check each family member receives is issued to Brugsen (a Danish supermarket chain) because, as Margrethe Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille explains:

“Dignity is the watchword, and the fact that this is a completely ordinary gift voucher makes going to Brugsen to exchange it for some special Christmas goodies neither embarrassing nor dishonorable.”

The other part of the Christmas help, the children’s gift, is also carefully selected.

“The children always get books. As we see it, books are not one of the first things families with few resources spend money on, and in this way, we hope we can open the door to another world the children do not normally see,” says Margrethe-Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille.

In addition, the Egmont Foundation team that organizes the Christmas help always tries to find titles that appeal to the whole family so they have something to do together over the holiday. This year the book gift includes many children’s cookbooks categorized by age so the children get an age-appropriate gift.

Christmas help – a window onto reality
The families that receive Christmas help from the Egmont Foundation have had their name put forward by the social authorities – their social workers, for example.
But Margrethe Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille knows the help comes as a welcome surprise. Every year the Egmont Foundation gets thank-you letters from families whose parcels have provided a pleasant and much-needed boon.

“The Christmas help is a window onto reality, and we know Christmas is a difficult time for families who are hard up. Short of money, these families simply have no space for Christmas, a fact that smarts in a society like ours where the material aspects of Christmas loom so large. Single parents have a tough time living up to these expectations, so it’s wonderful that we can help give them a better Christmas.”

The Christmas help consists of:

A 300 kroner gift voucher per person in the household, to be exchanged in Brugsen.
A book gift for every child in the household.
The Egmont Foundations also strives to give special books that the whole family can enjoy. Many of the books this year are cookbooks for children.

Who is eligible for Christmas help:

Recipients cannot apply for help themselves; they must be recommended by the social authorities, their social workers, for example, and no later than in the beginning of November.
Single parents with one or more under-age children in the household and a maximum monthly income of DKK 3,900.
Recipients cannot apply for help themselves; they must be recommended by the social authorities, their social workers, for example.
In 2007, 338 individuals received Christmas help from the Egmont Foundation while the corresponding figure for 2005 was 333.
Since the Egmont Foundation established Christmas help in 1994, about DKK 1.66 million have been donated to the cause.

By: Vibeke Daell Bjerrum/ Corporate Communications/ bjerrum@egmont.com