SMS for lunch

Promo Lion winner and Bronze in the category Direct at the Cannes Lions 2007.
‘Meals for Children’, a part of Meir Panim charity organization, delivers hot lunches to 10,000 needy children, daily. The brief was to carry their message to broader audience, encourage people to an immediate action and cover the cost of at least one meal.
The campaign, made by Shimoni Finkelstein Draft Fcb Tel Aviv Israel, illustrates what it feels like to give one child, one meal. The idea was to set up a ‘meeting’ with one child, and provide an immediate feedback to the action (your donation). A unique platform, integrating web and mobile technologies, enabled such meeting: A boy is seen, facing an empty plate, looking like waiting for something to happen. The copy invites you to donate, through SMS. The moment the system receives your SMS - the banner changes immediately: the plate fills and the boy smiles. Each sms covers the cost of one meal.

The idea was a success even before the launch. Major websites agreed to host the banner for free and all cellular operators provided their service pro bono. Early results have exceeded Meir Panim’s expectation. (campaign launched in April) Meir Panim, still adapting to the new techy flavor of his campaign, is overwhelmed by the opportunity to utilize digital media for raising funds.

Meir Panim Relief Centers provide meals and other critical services to Israel’s poor in distressed locations throughout the country.  Every day, our 15 soup kitchens/restaurants hand out 7,600 nutritious meals – free of charge.  Each is served with warmth and dignity.
According the National Insurance Institute, there are 1,6 million(!) Israeli citizens currently living below the poverty line – including 800,000 children. These people cannot afford regular meals. They suffer hunger day after day, and lack the most basic necessities of life.

Meir Panim Relief Centers provides crucial aid and support via a broad range of programs and services. Some of these include dignified soup kitchens, refurbished housewares and electronics distribution centers, after-school youth clubs, a Holocaust survivors’ meals program, and an empowerment program for battered women.

- See the process of donating here in this animation (click ‘Send SMS’).

See also video’s from Meir Panim at their YouTube channel.

Thanks Kobi and Campagne Sociali

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