345.000-Euro-Spende: So tut OTTO mit Altkleidung Gutes und öffnet Kleiderspende für Partner

Donating clothes by parcel follows a simple principle: customers parcel up their unwanted clothing and shoes, and send it off free of charge via Hermes. The ‘Platz schaffen mit Herz’ (‘PSMH’) initiative turns a donation of clothes into a valuable contribution that is directed where it is needed – to social and environmental institutions supporting child and youth welfare, the global campaign against hunger, and the protection of nature and the environment. Independent auditors regularly review the flow of donations and ensure transparency.

‘PSMH’ has developed very well in its first three years. Now we want to get even more people on our side, and work together for the responsible handling of resources. This is why we have opened up the project to cooperation partners”, says Dr Michael Heller, Member of the OTTO Management Board, Categories. Alongside OTTO, now myToys, Weight Watchers and lillestoff are also bringing ‘PSMH’ to their customers. The initiative launched by OTTO is therefore increasingly becoming a sustainable platform on which different companies can come together for charitable causes and ensure the responsible handling of old textiles.

In Guido Maria Kretschmer the project has also won a celebrity testimonial, and the star designer is campaigning for clothing donations by parcel. “I feel very strongly about sustainability. By donating parcels of clothes, every one of us can do their bit to be more mindful with our planet’s resources. I’m happy to play my part too, in helping spread the message of this initiative”, says Kretschmer about his commitment to the clothing-donation initiative.

Long-term donation partners include Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (NABU), German Agro Action "Welt Hunger Hilfe" and the Aid by Trade Foundation. Further donations were made to the Sternenbrücke children’s hospice and an educational project for SOS Kinderdorf e.V., amongst others. In total, Initiative Zukunft gGmbH, the independent non-profit organisation that manages the donations from ‘PSMH’, has paid out 345,000 euros in the last three years, of which 214,000 euros were donated in the 2016 / 2017 financial year.

This also includes a special project: in cooperation with Plan International, the children’s aid organisation, ‘PSMH’ has financed 100 child sponsorships in ten countries. What’s more, school pupils from right across Germany will make personal connections with these children: they will manage the content of the sponsorships as part of school projects, and maintain pen-friendships with the children. Furthermore they will soon be able to apply as child sponsors via Plan International.