The Three Kings Collection 2022 has begun. The carolers have taken to the streets
January 10, 2022 Press release

The Three Kings Collection 2022 has begun. The carolers have taken to the streets

All of us from Caritas Czech Republic, including our carolers, look forward to the traditional Three Kings Collection every year. At the beginning of January, tens of thousands of volunteers are going to take part in the largest collection event in the Czech republic nationwide for the 22nd time, following an ancient folk custom. Today, carolers, as in the past, spread God's blessings and messages of merciful love among the people, while asking for a contribution for people in need.

On the first of January of the new year, our young carolers took to the streets, organized into groups, which usually represent three children carolers in the costumes of the three kings, and the coordinator - their adult escort. Before their journey began, the carolers were given a traditional blessing - this time online - by Father Juan Provecho, a priest from the Church of St. Thomas in Prague. (You can also find his blessing in the video on the collection's website.) The blessings of the carolers can be watched on Czech Television on the ecumenical mass in Olomouc on January 1, 2022, and TV Noe on January 3, 2022, during the mass broadcast from Ostrava.

"We thank all those who give contributions to our carolers and thus remember people who are lonely, sick, or those who have already found themselves in various difficulties. Caritas Czech Republic, which will celebrate 100 years of existence in 2022, will always be there for those in need, thanks to your generosity, compassion, consideration, and kindness,” says Lukáš Curylo, Director of Caritas Czech Republic.

The Three Kings Collection is also a holiday of solidarity for us. It helps an intergenerational sense of cohesion, allows all involved to experience a sense of joy and reciprocity, a nice encounter with the inhabitants of towns and villages - and this is its most important mission and strongest message. In addition, it represents a unique opportunity for carolers and donors to start the new year with a good deed.

The carol groups will be equipped with a card from the organizing Caritas and a sealed money box with its logo. The money raised will then help hundreds of thousands of people in need - the sick, people with disabilities, the elderly, mothers with children in need, and other needy groups of people, right in the areas where the collection takes place. Carolers raise tens of millions of crowns for them (in 2020 it was over 130 million, in the "covid" the year 2021 it was 81.5 million, which we consider a great success).

"The children take the collection as their own and are very much looking forward to it - especially after last year's break when it was not possible to personally carol. Every group of carolers knows why they are caroling and for what specific thing the money collected will be used in its region,” says the collection coordinator Gabriela Víšová.

This motivation is another driving force for the little three kings to raise as much money as possible. Caritas Czech Republic not only raises new volunteers in them but also acquires future colleagues. Thanks to the collection, the children learn that there are people among us who cannot help themselves, and thus learn to help those in need. Scouts, schools, various professional associations, firefighters, and many others are enthusiastically participating in the collection.

In addition to that, last year we had to deal with the pandemic and related measures. Therefore, our volunteers could not go caroling to the streets, institutions, or companies. However, the organizers and coordinators of the collection were able to meet this challenge. They operatively replaced carolers with static money boxes located in shops, mobile money boxes, or a prerecorded online carol.

We start caroling on the first day of the new year 2022, in compliance with all the hygienic measures. It will be a mostly outdoor collection - so our three kings will not enter your homes with their carols and sing in front of your door, on the streets, or the squares. When caroling in institutions, the coordinators will arrange everything according to the applicable anti-pandemic measures to minimize the possibility of virus transmission.

For those who want to contribute, we have also kept all the proven "covid tools" from this year's collection: there remains the opportunity to contribute to static money boxes, which individual Caritas will place in offices, churches, companies, shops, pharmacies and other places. Lists with their specific location will be available on the websites of individual Caritas.

People can also continue to donate online. If you want to support a specific Caritas, you have the opportunity to choose from the listed variable symbols for your collection account. It will also be possible to contribute via QR codes and the like. We are also trying other innovations, this year we will test payment terminals in mobile phones in the Brno diocese.

Its website www.trikralovasbirka.cz provides a lot of practical information about the Three Kings Collection, which, for example, attracted 150,000 visitors last January. Here you will also learn stories of people in need, how the money we have raised in previous years has helped them, as well as specific plans for using the proceeds of the collection in individual Charities for 2022.

The Three Kings Collection, which will run from 1 to 16 January 2022, will be accompanied by interesting events. Let's name the popular Three Kings Concert on Sunday, January 9, 2022, from 6 pm, which will be broadcast live by ČT 1. This concert is an act of gratitude to our carolers, partners, and all donors and supporters. Martina Kociánová and Jan Čenský will accompany the audience and listeners. The concert brings entertainment, live music performances, and also reports on how the money from the Three Kings Collection helps.

The presenters behind the scenes will be a novelty of the year 2022: Michal Isteník and Jakub Uličník, actors from the Brno City Theater, will provide entertainment. And the performers? You will be pleased by Tata Bojs, Petr Bende, Lenka Nová with Petr Malásk and Josef Štěpánek and children's dancers from the Ondrášek ensemble. During the concert, you can support the Three Kings Collection by sending a donor DMS.

Unfortunately, given the pandemic situation, we must avoid those events where, in the years when we did not yet know about covid, a large number of people gathered - whether the protagonists or the spectators. That is why, for example, the popular Three Kings Parade will not take place in Prague. We have prepared a list of recommendations for our carolers on how to proceed with caroling so that all anti-pandemic measures are maintained. The group leader, who will be in charge of the carolers, will oversee their observance. Some Caritas will also allow preventive testing of carolers. We try to do everything to keep the tradition of caroling preserved.

How to contribute to the collection?

The Three Kings Collection can be contributed to in the following ways:

  • You will visit or meet our little three kings and contribute to the money box with the logo of Caritas Czech Republic
  • You can contribute to static money boxes, which you can find in offices, churches, or shops
  • You can donate through the online carol (you can contribute to the online money box after the caroling all year round)
  • You can also send a non-cash gift by cheque or to the collection account (account number 66008822/0800, VS 777)
  • You can send a donor SMS:

    DMS KOLEDA 30 or DMS TRV KOLEDA 30
    DMS KOLEDA 60 or DMS TRV KOLEDA 60
    DMS KOLEDA 90 or DMS TRV KOLEDA 90

    (DMS is valid in the Czech Republic only)

You can follow the current situation and news on the website of the Three Kings Collection, on Facebook, and Instagram.

(Links lead to websites in Czech only)

We wish you a happy new year 2022 full of health, love, happiness, and joy!

 

Media Contact:

Simona Cigánková,
Spokesperson of Caritas Czech Republic
e-mail: simona.cigankova@charita.cz
tel .: +420 703 124 688