1: Sending Pens (and pencils, erasers, rulers…..etc)
We welcome donations of unwanted pens, pencils, erasers, rulers – anything that might be useful in a school or orphanage. However, please do not send paper, folders or plastic document holders as these are not suitable for us to ship.
Send your donations to:
Pens for Kids Switzerland
Weitlingweg 63
8038 Zurich
Switzerland
Please remember that it costs us money to send these items overseas, so if you are able to include a donation with your pens, it helps us to ship them as soon as we receive them – they are no use sitting in storage in Switzerland when they could be being put to good use overseas.
Better still – rather than paying to send them to us, why not send them directly overseas? The two addresses you can use are: Pens For Kids Kenya, Enterprise Road, P.O. Box 17516-00500, Nairobi, Kenya and Pens for Kids Tanzania, c/o Amon Philip Mwanitega, P.O. Box 11451 Arusha, Tanzania. If you do ship directly, please drop us an email to let us know what you have sent for tracking purposes / our records.
Don’t restrict yourself to just pens; pencils, erasers, rulers etc. are all welcome.
If you are able, please test your pens before sending them, it avoids you and us paying postage on something that isn’t working! It also saves us hours of pen testing. If you are sending pens to us, do please pop a note in to say if you’ve tested them, we won’t know you have unless you tell us.
If you have heavy or bulky items such as folders, notebooks/notepads, please send them directly if you are able. Unfortunately, we generally struggle to raise sufficient funds to send all the pens and pencils we receive, so please don’t send them to us in Switzerland as we may not be able to send them onward.
2: Funding
Pens For Kids Switzerland has lots of donated pens just waiting for enough funds for us to send them.
If you can help in any way with this cost, it means that we can send more pens.
We will happily accept any funding towards the cost of shipping. NONE of it is used to pay employees, it ALL goes towards postage costs. We never pass your details on, or contact you directly asking for additional donations.
Every little helps.
Ways of donating:
Pens for Kids Switzerland
Weitlingweg 63
8038 Zurich
Switzerland
IBAN: CH41 0900 0000 1565 2297 3
BANK: PostFinance AG
BIC: POFICHBEXXX
ADDRESS: Mingerstrasse 20
CITY: Bern
ZIP: 3030
COUNTRY: Switzerland (CH)
We have tax-free status in Switzerland. Swiss donors can deduct their donations to Pens for Kids Switzerland from their annual tax return.
You don’t have to be in Switzerland to send us money, you can donate from anywhere.
In Denmark, please see www.pensforkids.dk for details of how to donate.
In the UK, please see www.pensforkids.co.uk for details of how to donate.
Pens for Kids is trying to help underprivileged kids by removing one of the hurdles on their way to an education – the cost of a pen!
3: Get Involved – Switzerland
We have an ongoing need for help. Areas where a helping hand would be really useful are in:
- Promoting the work of Pens For Kids Switzerland and encouraging donations of pens
- Fundraising, especially approaching companies to see if they will sponsor the shipment of a box of pens. Or maybe you work in a company and could arrange for a donation of pens or funds?
- If you have a particular skill and would like to offer your help for free, please let us know. For example, translating material into French or Italian or Romansch to reach the whole of Switzerland. Or creating new promotional materials etc. Please just reach out to see how you can help.
Please note that nobody receives any salary or payment from Pens For Kids Switzerland. All donations are only used to send pens and other school equipment.
4: Get involved – Overseas
If you are planning a visit to an orphanage or children’s home overseas, and there’s a need for educational materials there, please contact us – we may be able to supply you with some to take with you.