Campaign at Elementary Schools

Parents Outraged: “Missio” Sells Chocolate to Children

These chocolates are also sold at schools for four euros.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Patrick Huber, zVg)

As part of “Missio Austria’s” youth campaign, donations are currently being collected for people in need. The fact that chocolate candies are being sold directly to children for this purpose has drawn criticism.

Monika G. from Styria is outraged: Her eight-year-old daughter proudly brought home a box of chocolates that she had bought with her allowance for four euros. It likely wasn’t clear to her that this was part of a fundraising campaign. “Do we really have to run fundraising campaigns with children in elementary school?” she asks.

The chocolate candies were sold to the children before class—without coercion, as is emphasized. “But children aren’t legally competent yet,” criticizes Monika G. She isn’t bothered by the fundraising itself—“as a family, we often sort through clothes to donate”—but rather by the approach.

Do elementary schools really need to organize fundraisers with children?

Monika G.

Behind this initiative is “Missio Austria,” a Catholic Church-sponsored aid organization that sells chocolate and chips for a good cause at about 450 schools throughout Austria as part of its youth campaign. Schools participate voluntarily and are responsible for organizing the event, according to the organization.

Mother Receives a Lot of Support
“The donations collected by a school or class are transferred to Missio Austria. We use the net proceeds to support five projects,” writes the press office. Monika G. is convinced: “It would be better to sell the items at parent-teacher meetings or summer festivals.”

She is not alone in her opinion. Her post on the topic received hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram. In the comments section, numerous mothers and fathers are also critical of the sales.