Auchan Solidarity Action Raises €16k for SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde

Following the sixteenth back-to-school solidarity action which took place in September in the three Auchan hypermarkets (Kirchberg, Cloche d'Or, Opkorn/Differdange), representatives of Auchan and the participating shopping malls invited Sophie Glesener, Director of SOS Children's Villages World, for a cheque presentation ceremony.

 Frédéric Vital, Director of the Cloche d'Or hypermarket, and Raphael Bouchet, director of the Cloche d'Or Shopping Center, as well as checkout attendants from the three sites, who contributed to the success of the action, presented them with €16,000. This sum, raised thanks to customers during their checkout, will be allocated to a project which supports 300 vulnerable families in Benin in the care of their children.

During the exchange which took place at the Cloche d'Or shopping centre, Sophie Glesener, Director of SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde, recalled that: "Every child has the right to sufficient and balanced nutrition, this right is enshrined in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child which guides our work. We warmly thank all the employees who made this action a great success and the customers for their great generosity.”

Benin is economically dependent on agriculture and is working to revive its economy even though it has suffered the economic repercussions of the global health crisis. Malnutrition remains a big problem, with more than 32% of children suffering from chronic malnutrition and more than 10% from a severe form.

SOS Villages d'Enfants has been active in Benin since the 1980s and today supports children in Abomey-Calavi, Dassa-Zoumé, Natitingou and Parakou. By helping parents and/or guardians to develop their own lucrative activities, the association’s aim is to empower them to cover their children’s basic needs, starting with food, which will contribute to their healthy development.

The SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde team will return to the Cloche d'Or Shopping Centre on 28 November 2023 for the #GivingTuesday 2023 campaign that the association is preparing and in which the centre is also participating.