Helping children with cancer with flowers

From April 28 to May 24, you can once again buy and give flower creations throughout Germany for the benefit of children and young people with cancer. With its campaign “Blumen schenken. Hoffnung spenden.” (Give flowers. Spread hope.) the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) wants to draw attention to the urgently needed research for improved cancer therapies for children and young people and collect donations for this purpose. This year’s campaign partners are once again the Fachverband Deutscher Floristen e.V. and Fleurop AG.

The Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the University of Heidelberg (Uni HD).

Anyone who loves flowers and wants to help seriously ill children can now take part in a very special campaign. Under the motto “Give flowers. Spread hope.” flower stores, garden centers and nurseries throughout Germany will be selling flowers from April 28 to May 24 to benefit children with cancer.

The campaign was initiated by the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), which wants to draw attention to the situation of affected families and the need for children’s cancer research. “One in five children still dies from cancer and many survivors suffer from the consequences for the rest of their lives. Reliable early detection is also important in order to be able to treat such high-risk patients in good time. There is an urgent need for action in pediatric oncology,” says Stefan Pfister, Director at KiTZ, Head of Department at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and pediatric oncologist at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD). 

Flower stores, garden centers and nurseries throughout Germany are taking part in the campaign. For every flower or plant sold with the campaign label, a donation is made to KiTZ’s children’s cancer research. This year, “Give flowers. Spread hope.” is already celebrating its 5th anniversary. Over the past four years, participants have collected a total of around 367,000 euros to help children and young people with cancer.

This year, the proceeds from the campaign will go to the “EU CAN KIDS” alliance, in which the KiTZ cooperates with two of the most important children’s cancer centers in Europe, the Prinses Máxima Centrum in Utrecht and the French Institut Curie in Paris. With “EU CAN KIDS”, the three centers of excellence want to create better conditions for children with cancer in Europe so that all young patients have access to modern treatment methods.

This year’s campaign partners are once again the Fachverband Deutscher Floristen e.V. and Fleurop AG, which are supporting the campaign for the 5th time. “Fleurop is once again contributing to the campaign this year with its own bouquet,” says a delighted Nico Lamprecht, Marketing Manager at Fleurop AG. For every “charity bouquet” that can be ordered online from April to the end of June, two euros will be donated to children’s cancer research at KiTZ.

Klaus Götz, President of the Fachverband Deutscher Floristen e.V. Bundesverband (FDF) is also looking forward to the start of the campaign: “With flowers and plants, you can give affection and joy, as well as comfort and hope. The campaign is a great opportunity for the industry and for our members in the FDF to help seriously ill children and give them hope. That is why we are once again committed to supporting this campaign and are delighted to be involved again.” 

The preparations for the campaign were also supported by many different committed people and companies. “A lot of heart and soul goes into this campaign and it is only possible with a lot of voluntary support,” emphasizes campaign organizer Frederike Scheurer from KiTZ. “We are incredibly grateful to our partners and all our supporters, including over 60 flower wholesalers and retailers throughout Germany, who are making this campaign something very special. It is already a fantastic joint effort and we look forward to all florists and customers taking part!”

The participating stores and further information about the campaign can be found on the KiTZ website for anyone who would like to buy flowers for a good cause. On the Instagram profile of the KiTZ flower campaign, participating florists, gardeners and plant retailers can describe what moves them about childhood cancer and which floral creations they sell for the benefit of children during the campaign period. KiTZ also offers information on the development, diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer and provides information on the research projects supported by the donations. 

KiTZ would like to thank all the companies that have made a significant contribution to raising awareness of the campaign with their donations in kind and time: Flugkraft – Fotoprojekt gegen Krebs gGmbH, Grafikbüro Köln GKB GmbH, Ströer Deutsche Städte Medien GmbH, Fachmagazin gestalten & verkaufen, Haymarket Media GmbH, Heidelberg Marriott Hotel.