Fewer donations, more people in need: the food banks reach their limits when distributing food. In “Wetten dass..?” Herbert Grönemeyer wants to help the Berlin distribution points with his bet. The singer is right – he still promises his support.
Singer Herbert Grönemeyer wants to cover all operating and maintenance costs for the Berliner Tafel for a month. “It’s a board with 50 distribution points that worry about 70,000 people,” said the 66-year-old on the ZDF program “Wetten, dass ..?” on Saturday in Friedrichshafen in front of an audience of millions. In the event of a lost bet, Grönemeyer wanted to cover all operating and maintenance costs for a month. Although his betting candidate won and the singer would not have had to redeem the stake, he still wants to bear the costs.
The Berliner Tafel is happy about Grönemeyer’s donation promise. His willingness to help is “great” and even more than expected, said Sabine Werth, chairwoman of the Berliner Tafel, the “Tagesspiegel”. Grönemeyer’s management had actually announced a donation of the operating costs for one month, now the singer himself spoke of taking over the maintenance costs for one month.
Grönemeyer was one of the stars of the show in Friedrichshafen, moderated by Thomas Gottschalk. After his performance with his new single, the 66-year-old said he had “great respect for the people who volunteer to help and support people during this time”. This included the food banks in Germany, where the socially needy receive food for free. “They need food that can be stored for a long time, money and support.” Most recently, the Tafel repeatedly complained that there were more and more people in need and at the same time fewer food donations.
The chairwoman of the Berliner Tafel left open in the “Tagesspiegel” how high the exact operating and maintenance costs are for a month. The largest items are rent, ancillary costs, electricity and fuel, Werth told the “Tagesspiegel”. The panel operates 28 vehicles alone, 16 of which are refrigerated. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the rush at all issuing points has more than doubled.
Grönemeyer’s donation announcement and the associated request to the viewers to donate themselves found a large audience. A total of 10.09 million people watched the ZDF program on Saturday evening, which gave Gottschalk an audience rating of 39.5 percent and thus the clear victory of the day as the most-watched program. When Gottschalk’s “Wetten, dass..?” comeback a year ago, almost four million more people tuned in, when 13.8 million people watched.