Today, the Star Weeks Award Ceremony took place at the Zurich Schauspielhaus attended by approximately 550 children and adults. The event celebrated the most creative children's fundraising campaigns with winners coming from Villmergen (AG), Albisrieden (ZH), Bedano (TI) and Disentis (GR). In total, about 3800 children participated, raising CHF 467 000 for children in Bangladesh through their efforts and the support of ALDI SUISSE AG.
Award Ceremony 2024
The Star Weeks are a joint campaign by UNICEF and the magazine “Schweizer Familie”. During the Star Weeks, children in Switzerland and Liechtenstein get involved with creative fundraising ideas for other children in need. Since 2004, more than 135 000 children have collected around 8,5 million francs, impressively demonstrating their solidarity for children in need. Swiss celebrities such as Stefanie Heinzmann, Arina Luisa, Anatole Taubman, Kurt Aeschbacher, Rob Spence and Bastian Baker were also present at today's event. The event was hosted by Sandra Studer. Twelve campaigns were nominated in a total of four different categories.
And this year's winners are:
Category: Individual child
Robin Meyer from Villmergen (AG)
Robin (2014) made a variety of different herbal ointments himself by collecting the herbs, boiling them and mixing them with bee honey. He has the recipes in his head and is always trying out new things. He then sold his ointments together with homemade apple ringlis at the Christmas market - with great success: he took in 420 francs!
Category: Friends/Siblings
Siblings from Bedano (TI)
Siblings Nina (2012) and Tobi (2014) collected 52 kilograms of chestnuts in the forests of Malcantone and sold them at a collection point, earning 80 francs. They also made scratch cards and sold them to relatives and friends. Each card contained four squares, three with a star and one with a heart. Whoever scratched off three stars won and received handmade stars made of wood, felt and metal. Anyone who found two stars and a heart had lost and was asked to donate to the Star Weeks. In this way, they generated 320 francs, bringing the total amount raised to 400 francs.
Category: Families/Neighborhood
Children from Albisrieden (ZH)
The group from Albisrieden in Zurich, consisting of Juna (2013), Mira (2016), Jael (2014), Nils, Anina (2013), Flurina (2014) and Viola (2012), organized a diverse neighborhood festival. The event featured a food stand, punch and tea, face painting, a flea market, and a game booth with tin can and crossbow shooting. They also had a craft booth where visitors could make stress balls, as well as a wagon selling homemade products such as biscuits, postcards, felt items and magic nuts.
Category: Schools
Scola Populara, Pastor Christoph Zingg, 1st and 2nd grade of the upper school, Disentis (GR)
As part of the religion lessons at Scola Populara, students from the first and second grade of the upper school carried out the “AUA VIVA” campaign, named after the Reformed community center in Cadi. They designed the labels of 500 mineral water bottles from a Graubünden drinks manufacturer themselves using colored and felt-tip pens, watercolors and design programs and stuck them on the bottles, making each one unique. The motto was: “Aua Viva for clean water in Bangladesh”! They set up stands at the entrances of major stores in Disentis and sold their creations. The classes raised a total of 3002 francs through this fundraising campaign.
Honorary award
To mark the anniversary year, UNICEF ambassador Kurt Aeschbacher awarded five young people the Star Weeks Honorary Award. Sara Schenker from Hünenberg (ZG), Terence and Brandon Narapong from Horgen (ZH), Aina and Sina Scherling from Guttannen (BE), have already organized a Star Weeks campaign between twelve and 14 times.
Around 3800 children collected for Bangladesh
During this year's Star Weeks, around 3800 children collected a total of 467 000 francs through their activities and with the support of ALDI SUISSE AG. This year, the children in Switzerland and Liechtenstein campaigned for children in Bangladesh, where climate change is increasingly threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of girls and boys. Rising sea levels and flooded rivers are destroying their livelihoods. Many are fleeing to slums, where access to clean water and functioning sanitation systems is severely restricted, which encourages the spread of dangerous diseases.
As part of the Star Weeks 2023, UNICEF is supporting children and their families in the slums of Khulna, a large city in southern Bangladesh. Thanks to this aid, they have better access to clean water and a functioning sewage system, among other things. This support is urgently needed.
The “Star Weeks” are supported by the school magazine “Spick”.
Detailed information about the Star Weeks:
www.sternenwochen.ch