The 16th Edition of the L-Istrina BOV Piggy Bank Campaign was officially launched by Dr George Vella, President of Malta and Deo Scerri and Mario Mallia, Chairman and CEO at Bank of Valletta respectively, during an event held for all heads of schools in Malta and Gozo.
The L-Istrina BOV Piggy Bank Campaign, has firmly established itself in the build-up to L-Istrina and sees hundreds of piggy banks being distributed in all primary and secondary schools in Malta and Gozo. The underlying aim of the campaign is to raise awareness about solidarity among our schoolchildren while raising funds for the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation.
'Solidarity might be a word that is a bit too complicated, especially for the younger children,' said Mr Scerri. 'In 2004, we introduced the BOV Piggy Bank Campaign with the aim of introducing schoolchildren to the concept that solidarity is helping others voluntarily without expecting anything back.'
'We are very pleased to say that the funds raised through this campaign are approaching the €2 million mark - a figure that also includes a donation by the bank,' said BOV CEO Mario Mallia. 'The longevity of this campaign is now reaching a second generation, where participants in the first campaigns are seeing their children being introduced to the values promoted by it.'
Addressing the Heads of Schools, Dr Vella reiterated the importance of instilling values of generosity, compassion and philanthropy from a very young age. 'The Malta Community Chest Fund is all about the fair distribution of wealth and good quality of life for all. We have to work hard together to achieve this and the L-Istrina BOV Piggy Bank Campaign is the perfect catalyst to help us reach our goals'
Dr Vella proceeded to thank Bank of Valletta for its support throughout the years. 'We will shortly commence a series of visits to a number of schools in Malta and Gozo and it is always a delight to see the smiles on the children's faces participating in the campaign.'
The funds collected through the campaign including a donation by Bank of Valletta will be presented during the live broadcast of L-Istrina on the 26th December.