UNICEF greeting card
UNICEF greeting cards are greeting cards that are issued by UNICEF and for which part of the ticket price goes to children. The proceeds can be used to support UNICEF's worldwide aid for disadvantaged children and to promote health, education and child protection programs. UNICEF greeting cards have been sold since 1949.
UNICEF was founded in 1946 as an emergency aid organization for children in devastated post-war Europe. Today the organization helps in around 150 program countries to sustainably improve the living conditions of children and to protect them from violence and exploitation.
The story of the UNICEF greeting card begins with a thank you: seven-year-old Jitka Samkova from Rudolfov in Bohemia gave UNICEF a picture as a thank you: Children dancing around a maypole in the sunshine. She called her picture "Joy". The UNICEF employees liked it so much that they took it as a template for a Christmas card and sent 1,000 pieces all over the world.
Today the German Committee for UNICEF sells around 7 million cards every year. A new collection with many motifs appears in spring and autumn. World-famous artists such as Joan Miró , Raoul Dufy , Marc Chagall or Picasso donated one of their works to UNICEF, while large museums make well-known paintings available for reproduction free of charge. Current artists such as Julia Engelmann or the rocker Udo Lindenberg also support UNICEF with exclusive greeting card designs.
The great success of the UNICEF greeting card in Germany is also thanks to the commitment of around 8,000 volunteers. Today, employees often receive support from pharmacies, bookstores, large department stores or other voluntary sales outlets. Employees at Postbank, IKEA, real, Mayersche Buchhandlung and Bünting Group have also been selling UNICEF greeting cards in many branches on a voluntary basis for many years. The greeting cards are available around the clock in the UNICEF Internet shop.
The UNICEF cards of the German Committee are produced on chlorine-free bleached paper from sustainable forestry in Germany. Compliance with social standards and the renunciation of child labor are strictly monitored.