Serious Request collects €7.5 million for war victims

Radio station 3FM and the Red Cross' annual fundraising action Serious Request raised more than 7.5 million euros this year. While this is a large amount of money, it still falls short of the 12 million euros raised last year and the 12.3 million euros raised in 2013, NU reports. For this fundraising action 3FM DJ's Giel Beelen, Domien Verschuuren and Paul Rabbering locked themselves into the Glass House, this year located on the Pancratiusplein in Heerlen, for six days. During this time they played requested songs for a donation. The were let out around 9:00 p.m. on Thursday by those who placed the highest bid during a Serious Request auction. This year's proceeds will go to children and young people in conflict zones like Syria, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gijs de Vries, managing director of the Red Cross, is very happy with the money raised, he told NU. "It's not a competition. It is serious money, with which we can do so many nice things for the kids." Spokesperson for the Red Cross Merlijn Stoffels attributes the lower amount raised to the fact that so many people already donated money to help shelter refugees in the Netherlands and Europe this year, RTL Nieuws reports. The Red Cross received 6.3 million euros in donations for this cause throughout the year.