Turkish firm raises 1 million euros for UNICEF to help tackle childhood obesity

LONDON

Leading home appliances brand Beko has set out on a mission to raise awareness of childhood obesity in partnership with longstanding partner, FC Barcelona. 

The brand’s ambitious target of raising 1 million euros for UNICEF was met in just 11 days after an overwhelming amount of support on social media from people around the world, said Beko, which is the international home appliance brand of Turkey’s Arçelik Group and a global premium partner of FC Barcelona.

The funds will help children worldwide through various UNICEF programs, ultimately striving to prevent child malnutrition in all its forms globally, including obesity in children, according to the press release issued on May 14.

The #EatLikeAPro campaign officially launched on April 30 and called on social media users to share their healthy eating habits using the dedicated hashtag to generate donations to the cause. Every post shared across Twitter or Instagram using #EatLikeAPro triggered a 1 euro donation to UNICEF.

With over one million posts shared to date, donations have reached the 1 million euro milestone. The donations raised to date will provide families and primary schools with information, tools and support to improve the diets, growth and development of 600,000 children in Latin America.

The company said the initiative is supported by Barcelona football players, who sported #EatLikeAPro on their jersey sleeves during the recent El Clasico (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid), the most watched domestic club match in the world.