This initiative encourages students to present a single bouquet to their teacher on September 1st instead of multiple individual ones, with the money saved being donated to charity. Last year, the campaign raised a record 96 million rubles, and this year, organizers aim to increase that sum by another 24 million rubles.
Today marks a particularly active day for the all-Russian charity campaign “Children Instead of Flowers.” Over 227,000 schoolchildren from 900 localities across Russia have already joined the initiative.
The core idea of the campaign is for students to give one shared bouquet to their teacher for September 1st (Knowledge Day), with the funds saved from buying multiple bouquets being donated to charitable causes. Last year, the “Vera” Foundation, supporting seriously ill children, collected a record 96 million rubles through this campaign. This year, they plan to raise an additional 24 million rubles, targeting a total of 120 million.
Parents can make donations until September 5th, as stated by Anastasia Marentsova, Director of Fundraising and Communications at the “Vera” Hospice Aid Foundation. She elaborated:
“Today is the eve of Knowledge Day, the September 1st school assembly, where hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren across Russia will attend with a single flower instead of many. The money saved on bouquets will be directed by their parents and teachers towards charity, aiding seriously ill children and young adults – the beneficiaries of the `Vera` Foundation and `Dom s Mayakom` Children`s Hospice. We have already received over 9,500 applications from classes throughout Russia, and thousands of settlements across the country are participating. Involvement in the campaign doesn`t end on September 1st, as many attendees of the first-of-September assemblies see neighboring classes participate in `Children Instead of Flowers` and wish to join too. Therefore, we gladly welcome other participants even after September 1st, and donations can be made until the very end of October.”
Director of Fundraising and Communications, “Vera” Hospice Aid Foundation
In major cities today, parents are collecting special identifying attributes for participating classes and schools from foundation offices and distribution points. These include a ribbon for the teacher to tie around the bouquet, stickers for the children, a card for the teacher, and a letter of gratitude. Furthermore, participating teachers receive materials for conducting “kindness lessons,” where they discuss the importance of charity with children during class time.
Diana Chabanova, a Business FM employee and participant in the campaign, shared her experience from the “Vera” Foundation`s office:
“I picked up the campaign materials for our class from the `Vera` Foundation. Parents are coming one after another; there are many people collecting items that show their class participated in this initiative. If there used to be one or two tables, now, as the campaign grows and scales, there are significantly more tables for distributing these materials to avoid crowding and queues. Just now, about ten parents approached and collected their items. Our class traditionally participates in the campaign. It has become a tradition; the teacher herself asks us: `Let`s skip the huge number of bouquets this time; one will be enough for me; let`s do this campaign.` This time, participating in the campaign was very convenient: after we submitted our application, we were given a link for transferring funds, which each parent could use. Moreover, everyone could see the total amount accumulated by our class. This meant no single parent had to collect the money, send it, and report on it; parents simply saw the entire report via the link. This campaign caused no conflicts for us; we immediately followed the recommendations not to pressure anyone, as participation and the donation amount are voluntary. As a result, no conflicts arose – whoever wanted to participate did. Typically, this works, especially when the initiative comes from the teacher. We`ve been participating in this campaign for five or even six years, and this year we collected more than in all previous years combined.”
Business FM Employee, Campaign Participant
The campaign enjoys high-level support. This year, as in the previous one, information about it is displayed on the facade of the Ostankino TV Tower, which stands 540 meters tall.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth