1 November in all IKEA stores in Russia launched annual joint charitable campaign "Help us make the world a softer" in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Thousands of people across Russia readily responded to the call of IKEA and UNICEF decided to combine a Christmas gift to their loved ones with the support of those who need it most. On November 1 already sold more than 200 000 toys.
November 15 2010 Miss Russia Irina Antonenko a special trip to the store IKEA Khimki to support this good initiative. According to her, "cool that IKEA and UNICEF hold joint annual charity events and all who care about the fate of children who can help them. It's very easy - just go to the store and buy a stuffed toy. I would like to see similar projects in our country every year attracts more and more attention. "
"The first results of the campaign, of course, are impressive," says Oksana Belaichuk, IKEA's public relations director in Russia. "What are two hundred thousand toys?" This is two hundred thousand children's smiles. But the most important is the serious financial support of projects aimed at ensuring that the opportunities of every child in our country, regardless of his state of health or social status, were truly unlimited. We want the most important people on earth to go to school, play with their peers. But in Russia more than two hundred thousand children are deprived of this natural right. Sincerely I hope that with the help of our buyers and partners from UNICEF we will be able to make our world kinder and gentler in relation to children. "
According to Maria Ilyina, the head of the work with corporate partners of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), "UNICEF's programs for children's help receive increasing support from business and public attention. Miss Russia 2010 Irina Antonenko takes an active part in the charity initiatives of UNICEF and now, on the eve of the 21 anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Children, Irina decided to support the joint action of IKEA and UNICEF by buying a toy to help children. IKEA is a global partner of UNICEF, and the experience of our cooperation in Russia is a unique example of corporate social responsibility. "
According to IKEA.