Global fundraising for children's educational programs

Walking around Ikea always brings me a sense of familiarity. One of the more noticeable differences between Ikea Hong Kong and Ikea Canada is that the showrooms here are actually more representative of the actual living space of a typical HK apartment than that in Toronto. So multipurpose furniture and/or storage options are on the top of my shopping wishlist.

Aside from walking around and fantasizing about redesigning our apartment, I spent a lot time playing with the new plushies and finger puppets that were being sold as part of Ikea's 2013 Soft Toys for Education campaign which is raising money for Save the Children and UNICEF's children's educational programs. This is a global fundraising campaign for educational programs in Asia, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. Ikea Hong Kong is donating $10 HKD for every plush toy that's sold.

A squeaky carrot plushy and dragon and a fairy tale cast of finger puppets (Photo: CathC)

I was curious about the educational projects that were being funded by this campaign and found a blog that's written by different Ikea staff members who've spent time volunteering at the various sites. I thought they've done a nice job with the blog since you can get a good idea of what the volunteers experienced in each of the different projects--like building the Iharaka Primary School in Mahalevona by shipping materials in from boats. I believe Ikea Hong Kong is donating funds to UNICEF in China which is helping to build schools in the rural parts of China.

I think the Soft Toys for Education campaign is a great cause since it's global campaign and staff working in different countries not just raised money but have also volunteered in these local projects. Their work has been pretty impress as well. According to Ikea Foundation website the campaign began in 2003 and since then they've raised nearly €57 million, for 90 projects in 45 countries, helping 10 million children receive a better education.