"This will give you joy for a whole year"

The Diakonie Hamburg supports the appeal for donations "Bread instead of Böller" by the evangelical aid organization "Brot für die Welt" at the turn of the year. The past two years with a nationwide ban on firecrackers in the corona pandemic have shown that one can wish for a happy and healthy New Year even with less shine in the night sky, said state pastor Dirk Ahrens.

The speaker for Bread for the World in Hamburg, Linda Corleis, called on people to buy a few rockets less and donate the money saved. “With 48 euros we can give a family 16 kilograms of seeds, which they can use to grow five hectares of vegetables and rice. With this you give joy for a whole year”, says Corleis.

According to Diakonie, a third of the world's population does not have enough to eat. Last year around 828 million people went hungry around the world. The number of people whose food is not secure has also increased to 2.3 billion people.

In the past two years, significantly less money has been spent on fireworks and bangers. Instead of 122 million euros in 2019, it was only 20 and 21 million euros in 2020 and 2021 respectively. At the same time, firecrackers are increasingly being criticized because of fine dust pollution.

The slogan "Bread instead of firecrackers" came about 40 years ago in a discussion group of the Protestant parish of Bargteheide (near Hamburg). At that time, the congregation collected donations under this motto for the benefit of "Brot für die Welt", the global aid organization of the Protestant state and free churches. Founded in 1959, the organization now supports projects against hunger, poverty and injustice in more than 90 countries.

The work of the Hamburg Donations Parliament also shows how important donations are for the common good. This year, it funded exactly 79 projects with a sum of around 1.12 million euros - more than ever before. "Behind these numbers is the growing need of many people in Hamburg," said the CEO, Uwe Kirchner, on Tuesday. The club was particularly challenged this year by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the energy crisis and high inflation.

In March, the donations parliament launched a special program for Ukraine refugee aid. "The aim was to help people who had fled Ukraine in the months after the outbreak of war where there was no state aid," the association said. 26 projects received a total of 350,000 euros. Most recently, the association helped the Hamburger Tafel with 80,000 euros.

The Hamburg Donations Parliament has been supporting projects against homelessness, poverty and isolation for more than 25 years. According to the company, around 15 million euros have been paid out for almost 1,500 projects since 1996. The Donations Parliament with its more than 3100 members finances its projects through donations and membership fees.