The Hunger Day collection

Photo: Jarkko Mikkonen

With your help Red Cross volunteers provide quick and effective aid to those who need it the most: survivors of natural disasters and war around the world and victims of sudden traumatic events and crises in Finland.

The next Hunger Day collection will be held in September. The box collection will hit the streets in Finland on 26-28 September 2024.

Donate, or participate as volunteer collector and make sure that help continues to be available in the future as well. 

Donate to the Disaster Relief Fund

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Your donation to the Disaster Relief Fund means tangible help: Food, water, shelter. Both in the world and in Finland. Right now, the conflict in Israel and Gaza is causing great suffering.

PLS NOTE If you wish to target your aid to Ukraine specifically, select Ukraine crises as your donation target.

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Your donation helps the victims of natural disasters and conflicts all around the world. In Finland, aid is offered to victims of sudden accidents, such as fires.

Emergency aid is needed urgently

By donating to the Disaster Relief Fund you help those who have encountered crises around the world. With your support, we provide humanitarian aid to the world's worst crisis areas: we train volunteers, distribute cash aid to families and provide field hospitals.

Help would not be possible without the support of donors like you.

Your donation will also help here in Finland

Your donation will allow us to offer help in Finland: we search for missing persons, help those who have lost their homes in fires, provide psychological support to those who have been hit by a crisis, support the authorities and maintain preparedness.

In recent years, the local Red Cross branches have aided the victims of sudden accidents or crises more than three times a week with the help of the Disaster Relief Fund.

You can donate also by:

  • Sending the text message SPR to the number 16499 (€15)
  • Using MobilePay to transfer the desired sum to the number 10900
  • Calling the number 0600 12220 (€20.28 + local/mobile network charge)

Account information

Account: OP FI52 5000 0120 4156 73. Recipient: Finnish Red Cross. Reference number: 5186.

Would you like to become a monthly donor

Uncommitted funds of the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund are channelled quickly to wherever the need for aid is the greatest.

Thanks to regular donations, aid supplies and aid workers are ready as soon as something happens in Finland or abroad.

Join us as a monthly donor

Join us as a Hunger Day box collector
Join us as a Hunger Day box collector
This is how a Hunger Day donation helps
This is how a Hunger Day donation helps

Information about the Hunger Day collection

Hunger Day is a Finnish Red Cross collection organised in September each year. Hunger Day was born when the volunteer Mailis Korhonen from Pälkäne had an idea for the “fundraising campaign for everyone in Pälkäne.”

In November 1980, Pälkäne was abuzz with activity. The Pälkäne branch of the Finnish Red Cross had challenged the entire town to save on their food costs for a day and donate the saved funds for those suffering from hunger in Africa. There were many ways to donate, including a box collection, soup kitchen and church concert.

The collection was started under exceptional circumstances, as a newspaper strike made it difficult to inform people of the collection. However, over a thousand homes heard of the collection via schoolchildren, and the campaign exceeded all expectations.

Just a year later, the campaign expanded throughout the country and received the name Hunger Day. Currently, it is organised in almost every town in Finland.

The Hunger Day collection in Pälkäne 26 November 1981 Photo: Suomen Punaisen Ristin kuva-arkisto

Hunger Day has collected close to EUR 100 million. Numerous people have received help around the world and in Finland.

The first Hunger Day collection was organised to help the victims of famine in East Africa, hence the name Hunger Day. Back then, people were encouraged to eat lightly on Hunger Day and donate the saved funds to the collection. ​

​Today, you can spend Hunger Day as you wish – not even feasting is forbidden. The idea of Hunger Day is that everyone should have enough food and those in need should receive aid.

Hunger Day is about collecting money for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The donations are not committed in advance to any specific target. Therefore, the funds can be spent quickly where the need for aid is the greatest.

Help is repeatedly needed e.g. in natural disasters: typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, rainstorms, floods, drought and landslides are common and cause human suffering.

After a natural disaster, the Red Cross distributes water canisters, hot food, tarpaulins and hygiene packages to families and provides first aid and psychosocial support as needed. The Red Cross anticipates and prepares for catastrophes and assists communities in rebuilding. 

In Finland, Hunger Day donations support the training of volunteers and maintain preparedness for responding effectively to various crises. Sudden accidents and disturbances include disasters such as fires, floods and major accidents. Volunteers often play an important role in engaging with people in a comprehensive manner in their time of need.  

Here are some examples of what money can buy.

In Finland:

  • €50: training in psychosocial support for a volunteer
  • €180: clothes for a person who has lost their home in a fire

A preparedness unit on a trailer: When helping in emergencies, the volunteers bring a mobile preparedness unit with them. These units are located all around Finland, and donations to the Disaster Relief Fund are used to equip them:

  • €5: a blanket
  • €13: a metal petrol canister
  • €87: a carrier gurney for the injured
  • €149: a cordless drill

Around the world:

  • €9: a food package for a family for a week in a disaster area
  • €17: a maternity package in the middle of a disaster
  • €60: antibiotics for thirty children

Field hospitals can be sent to a disaster area anywhere in the world. The hospital supplies are acquired through donations:

  • €4.4: an iron supplement for after giving birth
  • €100: a suture kit
  • €620: an otoscope kit with one year’s worth of supplies
  • €4,100: a patient monitor with additional supplies for an operating room
  • €29,000: an operating table with additional equipment

The easiest way is to donate online

Payment methods: Finnish online banks, Visa and Master credit cards, MobilePay, Pivo and Siirto.

MobilePay donation

Use MobilePay to transfer the desired sum to the number 10900

SMS donation

Donate €20 – Text the word SPR20 to the number 16499

Donate €15 – Text the word SPR to the number 16499

Donate €10 – Text the word SPR10 to the number 16499

Donate €5 – Text the word SPR5 to the number 16499

Account information for a Hunger Day donation

Account: OP FI52 5000 0120 4156 73. Recipient: Finnish Red Cross. Reference number: 5173.

Hunger Day company donation

Make a company donation online. You can order an invoice or make a payment. Please note that by donating €500 or more, your company receives a link to special Hunger Day communications materials.

The Hunger Day box collection takes place between 26 and 28 September 2024. You will need to bring a photo ID and weather-appropriate clothing.

Local Red Cross volunteers organize box collection in almost all over the Finland. Please find more detailed information in the event calendar.

Find your nearest box collection point

How to set up your own online fundraiser

  • Set up your own online collection
  • Choose your donation target. You can e.g. raise funds for Hunger Day collection. 
  • Decide whether you want to set up a regular collection (“Private person”) or an umbrella collection (“Company/School/Team”) under which multiple teams can be created to collect a shared sum.
  • Give a name and target sum for your fundraiser.
  • Explain why you set up the fundraiser and ask people to donate.
  • When you are ready, publish your fundraiser.
  • Share the collection link in social media, via WhatsApp or by email. Posting the fundraiser once may not reach everyone, and you should share it repeatedly.
  • You can monitor the donations on your fundraising page.

PS. When necessary, see the step-by-step instructions!

The collection expenses of the Disaster Relief Fund must not exceed 20 per cent. This means that at least 80% of the donations are used for aid work.

The amount of collection expenses is monitored by the board and council of the Finnish Red Cross. Collection expenses are expenses caused from acquiring the donations, such as the printing and mailing costs of donation request letters, acquisition costs of the collection equipment, marketing costs, and fees collected by external service providers, including operators and banks.

The rules of the Disaster Relief Fund and its monitoring regulate the use of the donated funds.

Yes. For example, people who have lost their homes in fires need help with necessary purchases, starting with a toothbrush. The Red Cross also provides psychosocial support for accident victims and their families.

The coronavirus crisis has emphasised the importance of being prepared. The Hunger Day donations allow us to maintain our preparedness for operating under exceptional circumstances.

The Disaster Relief Fund is also used to support the preparedness of the Voluntary Rescue Service. These volunteers support the authorities e.g. in finding missing persons and during major accidents.

Read more about the uses of Hunger Day donations in Finland

Ask about the Hunger Day collection

Hunger Day for schools and companies

Hunger Day offers pupils an excellent opportunity to influence matters through their own actions both in Finland and abroad. Involve the pupils and invite the staff, parents and relatives along to help.

Tips for Hunger Day in schools (in finnish)

Companies taking part in Hunger Day are part of a unique chain of aid. Invite staff, stakeholders and customers along to help. 

This is how companies can participate in Hunger Day