Pharmacy Chain 36.6 and UNICEF: Childhood Full of Colours for Every Child!

MAY 17 2006, MOSCOW – Pharmacy Chain 36.6 and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announce a launch of a joint charity programme “Childhood Full of Colours for Every Child!”

Starting 17 May 2006, the customers at all 36.6 pharmacies in and around Moscow will be in a position to take part in a charity programme entitled “Childhood Full of Colours for Every Child!” All that is needed is to buy a bracelet with the action logo at any of the 36.6 pharmacies. The charity programme is expected to see over 200 thousand bracelets sold. The price of one bracelet is 36 roubles 60 kopecks.

All the profits from the sales of bracelets under the charity programme will be invested into one of Russia’s UNICEF programmes “Street children”. In Moscow alone there are currently over 30 thousand homeless children. These children face risks to their life and health on a continuous basis. The UNICEF activities under the Street Children programme are aimed at promoting and supporting the organisations that offer direct help to children in this category; reducing the number of children housed in orphanages, and children deprived of parental care; reducing the incidence of parental right termination; expanding the availability of general education to handicapped children; improving the qualifications of persons working with street children, etc. Some of the funds raised are expected to be used to buy a special-purpose bus with medical equipment onboard to provide immediate assistance to homeless children as well as children who spend most of their time in the street.

Carel de Roy, UNICEF representative in Russia and Belarus:

“The Street Children programme is one of UNICEF’s priorities in Russia as the children in this category are as likely as not the most vulnerable part of the Russian society. We are happy to see private business in Russia recently starting to take an active interest in social activities. We are grateful to the staff of the Pharmacy Chain 36.6 for directing their attention to the problems of Russia’s children and offering us their help. We also hope that our joint action will help bring colour and joy into the life of more children as well as establish a framework for our fruitful cooperation in future and provide an example for other Russian companies to follow.”

Artem Bektemirov, Chief Executive officer, Pharmacy Chain 36.6:

“Our joint project with UNICEF ‘Childhood Full of Colours for Every Child!’ is our first experience in staging a large-scale charity action. We are grateful to UNICEF, which has proved a reliable partner in implementing the project, for the action’s support and willingness to work in tandem. The pharmacy business has traditionally been making a significant contribution to the health of our citizens, and we now want to take maximum advantage of the opportunities available to a major retail chain to address the Muscovites directly in an attempt to arrange joint assistance to underprivileged children. We are confident that the project will prove a success and we call on all our customers to take part in the action.”

(PDF, 43,42 ÊÁ)

Press-release