WYD organizers asking youth to help their poorer peers

Madrid, Spain, Jul 6, 2010 / 14:34 pm

Organizers for World Youth Day (WYD) Madrid 2011 launched a campaign today to encourage Spanish youth to officially register for the event in order to raise funds so that young people from emerging countries can attend.

Although participation in the main WYD events is voluntary and free, organizers hope to increase the number of Spanish youth who sign up as they will have the opportunity to make contributions to the Solidarity Fund, which will specifically assist young people from Latin America in attending.

WYD’s Communications Department filmed an appeal for the campaign at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, with the help of production company, Lee Films. The bilingual ad will be featured on the Internet, radio and TV.

Emilio Butragueño, Director of Institutional Relationships for the Real Madrid soccer team, who participated in the ad, stated that he is “proud to collaborate with this big worldwide gathering for the youth and we expect and desire that it is a great success.”

Organizers have also worked with around 300 volunteers, who have promoted the campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Tuenti (Spain’s most popular social network). According to event coordinators, Madrid’s WYD already has more than 110,000 supporters in these networks.

Gabriel González-Andrío, Marketing Director for WYD, explained that “the campaign is international … and will be spread through digital media" because that's where the youth are.