Tokmanni and the Finnish Red Cross expand their collaboration – Purchases of Priima grocery products and Kotikulta decoration lights will help boost the Hunger Day collection

Tokmanni     Press release     28 July 2021 at 2:45 p.m.

In the “Ostamalla autat auttamaan” (“Buy to help us help others”) campaign organised by Tokmanni and the Finnish Red Cross, every Priima grocery product and Kotikulta decoration light product purchased from Tokmanni from August to October will add another five cents to the Hunger Day collection.

Tokmanni and the Finnish Red Cross are organising a campaign together in which Tokmanni will donate five cents of the sale price of each Priima grocery product and Kotikulta decoration light product sold from August to October to the NGO’s Hunger Day collection. Behind the campaign is the partners’ long-term collaboration, which has the aim of promoting the wellbeing of people and communities and reducing loneliness and social exclusion.

Hunger Day is a well-known collection for many Finns, which has been organised for over 40 years. Hunger Day raises money for the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which is used to quickly and efficiently provide aid to victims of natural disasters or sudden accidents in Finland and abroad.

Tokmanni will be participating in the Hunger Day collection for the third time. In 2019, Tokmanni participated in the national street fundraising campaign and, together with the Finnish Red Cross, took 800 water buckets to the Kansalaistori Square in Helsinki to symbolise the consequences of the scarcity of clean water. In 2020, customers were also given the opportunity to make donations at all Tokmanni stores and via the online stores for the first time without having to use cash. This year Tokmanni will donate money based on customer purchases of Priima grocery products and Kotikulta decoration lights, which are among the most important seasonal products in the autumn. Priima and Kotikulta are Tokmanni's private labels, and there will be more than 200 different campaign products on offer.

“Helping others has further increased in importance as a result of the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. At Tokmanni, we want to support the meaningful work of the Finnish Red Cross in visible, concrete and natural ways, such as this way with product sales,” says Mika Rautiainen, CEO of Tokmanni.

“Customers will be able to help raise money for the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund very easily by buying grocery products and decoration lights from our Priima and Kotikulta private labels. The donations are allocated to those in need of assistance in Finland and abroad. At Tokmanni, we are very happy to be able to help raise the amount of donations and we strongly believe that our customers will also have a very positive attitude to the campaign.”

The Finnish Red Cross is also very pleased that Tokmanni is participating in the Hunger Day collection.

“We are delighted about this new form of collaboration with Tokmanni. It is important to give all Finns an opportunity to participate in the collection in the way that suits them best,” says Sirpa Solehmainen, Fundraising Director at the Finnish Red Cross.

Based on long-term collaboration

Behind the campaign organised by Tokmanni and the Finnish Red Cross is the partners’ collaboration, which started in 2019. Its aim is to promote the wellbeing of people and communities and to reduce loneliness and social exclusion. Tokmanni is committed to supporting the NGO until the end of 2023 at least.

In addition to the Hunger Day collections the general discount retailer has, for example, supported the Red Cross Christmas cafes and provided Christmas gifts for hundreds of carers and lonely people. In 2020, Tokmanni enabled the Finnish Red Cross to help around 2,500 people through its volunteer friend activities. It has also supported the organisation in its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic by donating products and offering help with logistics.

“This cooperation with the Finnish Red Cross is very meaningful for us at Tokmanni. In the future we aim to find more ways to allow as many of our employees as possible to get involved in the collaboration, especially in the local area of their own store and with members of their local branch of the Finnish Red Cross,” says Emilia Koski, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Tokmanni.

Hunger Day collection in brief:

• Hunger Day is a fundraising campaign of the Finnish Red Cross, which is held every year in September and October. This year, the national street fundraising campaign will be held 23–25 September 2021.  
• The Hunger Day collection raises funds for the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Disaster Relief Fund enables the Finnish Red Cross to use these funds at its discretion to quickly provide aid where it is needed most at any particular time.
• In Finland, Disaster Relief Fund donations are used to train volunteers and to maintain Finland's preparedness to respond effectively to various crisis situations. Sudden accidents and disruptions include fires, floods and major accidents.
• The Finnish Red Cross is helping to provide aid in the Philippines, where numerous natural disasters every year cause suffering and distress. Hot food and water canisters, for example, are distributed to families as emergency aid, but the long-term work involved in rebuilding and development of preparedness is equally important.
• This year, the Hunger Day collection is being organised for the 41st time.
• Read more about Hunger Day on the campaign pages, for example, www.redcross.fi/hunger-day.

Read more about the long-term partnership between Tokmanni and the Finnish Red Cross in Finnish on Tokmanni’s website, at www.tokmanni.fi/spr.


TOKMANNI AND THE FINNISH RED CROSS


For further information, please contact:


Sirpa Solehmainen
Fundraising Director
Finnish Red Cross

Tel. +358 50 567 6629
sirpa.solehmainen(at)redcross.fi


Maarit Mikkonen
Head of IR and Communications
Tokmanni

Tel. +358 40 562 2282
maarit.mikkonen(at)tokmanni.fi


The Finnish Red Cross is one of Finland’s largest NGOs. The aim of the Red Cross is to help people who are most in need of help, both at home and abroad. The Red Cross provides aid after disasters and accidents and trains people to prepare for such crises. The Red Cross encourages people to take care of their own health and of one another. Defending humanity is one of the main goals of the Red Cross family.


Tokmanni is Finland’s leading general discount retailer. Some 4,000 Tokmanni employees make customers’ everyday life and special occasions easier by offering a versatile and up-to-date assortment of Finnish and international brand-name products and other high-quality products at prices that are always affordable. With nearly 200 stores around Finland and an online store, Tokmanni is always close to its customers. Tokmanni’s revenue in 2020 amounted to EUR 1,073.2 million. Tokmanni’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.