The interAktion e.V. association is well-known throughout Dortmund. Since 2006, the people of our city have made many children's eyes light up thanks to the "Kinderwünsche" (children's wishes) campaign run by the association. Each year, the good citizens of Dortmund can pick up a wish list from the Berswordthalle at the Stadthaus and then spend up to €25 to make a child's wish come true. The guiding principle expressed by writer Erich Kästner - "There is no good unless you do it" - serves as the driving force and the inspiration behind the campaign. Each Christmas, the association makes approximately 2,000 children's wishes come true. Public participation remains high each year.

Borussia Dortmund and the BVB fan department also joined the campaign in 2013 and have been supporting it ever since. Initially, BVB players and employees took part, but since 2014, the campaign has also been made available in the BVB fan shops located in the city. As is the case for BVB, annual involvement in the campaign has become a matter of the heart for many businesses and organisations in Dortmund, for example the University of Applied Arts and Sciences.

This year, this wonderful and popular campaign won't be able to take place in the usual fashion due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The BVB foundation ''leuchte auf'' has been working together with InterAktion e.V. over the past few weeks to find ways to keep the beloved tradition going. The BVB foundation thus has decided to finance the approximately 2,000 children's wishes for this Christmas. With this support, the InterAktion e.V. association will be in a position to buy and distribute the children's gifts.  

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Nonetheless, an important part of the Children's wishes campaign will remain in place: By clicking on the donation link, anyone who wishes to help make one or more wishes come true has until Sunday 13 December 2020 to make a donation of their choice to the BVB Foundation "leuchte auf". The total sum of all donations received will then be passed on to the Children's wishes campaign. If the total of approx. €50,000 required for the Children's wishes campaign is not reached, the BVB Foundation will make an additional donation to ensure that every child will find a present under the tree this Christmas. Should the donation target of approx. €50,000 be exceeded, the BVB Foundation, together with interAktion e.V., will use the additional funds to support projects that help children and young people in the city of Dortmund.

With this exceptional support, the BVB Foundation wants to ensure that the campaign can still take place during the Coronavirus pandemic. We all hope that things will be back to normal for the winter of 2021.

"We are very pleased to receive this kind of support from the BVB Foundation. It is very important for us to ensure that we can make the children's wishes come true at Christmas," says Christoph Werner, board member of interAktion e.V. His colleague on the board, Arne Fredriksen, adds: "Participation this year will certainly be more anonymous as a result of the donation option. But after the pandemic, we will return to our normal way of doing things. Until then, we look forward to receiving numerous donations through the BVB Foundation initiative.''

"We have been supporting the children's wishes campaign for so many years, so it was only natural for us to want to ensure that the campaign would be able to continue during the pandemic. Making children's wishes come true at Christmas is a matter close to all our hearts," says Carsten Cramer, BVB managing director and foundation board member.

A note on donation receipts: We will automatically send a receipt for all donations of €200 or more, provided an address is entered in the reference. Please understand that for administrative reasons we cannot issue a donation receipt for donations of less than €200.