Words by Smiley Team
Seven thousand not-for-profit Royal Dutch Mint coins have been sold, in a scheme which means 7,000 food boxes will be donated to people in need in the Netherlands.
Now, the aim is to reach 12,000.
Launched on World Food Day in Amsterdam, the coin was an exclusive collaboration between Royal Dutch Mint and Smiley Movement, marking The Smiley Company’s 50th anniversary.
For every one sold, the Royal Dutch Mint is donating a food box to the Foodbank Amsterdam at Christmas.
In Amsterdam, 4,200 people depend on the foodbank – and, including the surrounding region, this adds up to 12,000 people. The Foodbank Amsterdam, in line with Foodbank Netherlands, aims to provide food to people who – temporarily – can’t do so on their own.
Speaking to Smiley News, Bert van Ravenswaaij the Chief Financial Officer at the Royal Dutch Mint talks about the success of the coin, and how the collaboration started.
When the opportunity with Smiley came about, Bert says: “I thought, if you bought a coin with a smile, and then a real living person gets a real smile – that would be great.”
“We started discussing it,” says Bert, “and we knew people depended on Foodbank Amsterdam, so we reached out to them and talked about having boxes of emails delivered around Christmas.”
On the coin, you can see the 50th anniversary logo of The Smiley Company with the slogan: Take The Time To Smile!
On the reverse is a hand holding the logo of the Foodbank Amsterdam. Against a background of Smileys, the hand reaches for another hand. This symbolises the food box that is donated. The medal is packed in a coin card with the original SmileyⓇ on it.
The collaboration between Royal Dutch Mint, Smiley and Foodbank Amsterdam went ahead and Bert says it became a complete CSR project for the company – and the first 100% non-profit coin.
He has been pleased that companies have been buying the coins for their employees this Christmas, as a gift that “gives back” to others during this period. One restaurant owner, for example, bought 1,500 coins as a way to help this project.
“At the moment, we’ve sold a little bit less than 7,000 coins,” says Bert. “We’ve already met our first target and we are now working towards reaching the goal of 12,000 – that will be 12,000 food boxes donated to those in need.”
“The food really does go to people depending on it,” says Bert. “These people don’t have money to buy food, along with clothes and necessities for their families. It’s a very good organisation.”
Bert says everyone buying these coins is helping them further their efforts – “You cannot pay for anything with the coin,” he says, “everybody does it for the good cause and they want to make it happen.”
There are a lot of people living in poverty behind closed doors, he said, and this collaboration really tries to help those people.
Anyone can purchase a coin – even those living in the UK. Buy a coin here and donate a food box to someone in need this Christmas.
