The 2016 Door to Door annual fundraising campaign was launched on Monday by the Cyprus Red Cross society. The event, which is sponsored by Piraeus Bank for the third consecutive year, will last until April 10.

“Last year we created a large chain of volunteers,” Giorgos Appiou from Piraeus Bank said on Monday at the launch. “One hundred thousand doors opened with small and large contributions. We collected more than €270,000. With this money, we could offer 95,000 ‘Love Bags’, containing dry food like rice and pasta for the needy, over 14,000 hot meals and 85,000 breakfasts for students.”

The campaign was first launched in 1991 by the Limassol Branch of the Cyprus Red Cross. Two years later it went island-wide and has remained so.

At Monday’s launch, the head of the Red Cross, Fotini Papadopoulou, and House speaker Yiannakis Omirou thanked all volunteers and sponsors taking part.

These include Piraeus Bank, conductor and musician Yiannis Hadjiloizou for giving the rights to use his composition for the TV spot, theatre director Andreas Araouzos, actress Christina Marouchou, DJ Kypros Karaviotis, dancer Vicky Kalla and actor Andreas Fylactou.