Wolfram Kons has been moderating the RTL morning show “Guten Morgen Deutschland” for 31 years. In addition, the journalist is the overall charity manager of the station. As such, he also moderates the RTL donation marathon once a year, with the proceeds going entirely to the non-profit “Stiftung RTL – We help children eV”. Although he has been there for so long, the past three weeks have been the most strenuous of his professional life, Kons now reveals in an interview with ntv.de. The war in Ukraine is to blame. “Something is planted in the hearts and minds of the children that must not have a dominating place there: violence, death, flight and separation.” A very small ray of hope: So far, more than 22 million euros in donations have been collected.
ntv.de: Mr. Kons, you will leave the “Guten Morgen Deutschland” team at the end of the month and work exclusively for the “RTL Foundation – We help children eV”. Why?
The face of the RTL donation marathon since 1996: Wolfram Kons.
Wolfram Kons: Since the start of the RTL donation marathon 27 years ago, we have continued to expand the charity area. We are now very visible and active all year round with the topic of helping children. I present eight to nine major projects at the Marathon on air – but there are around 200 projects a year that we support. This is more than a full-time job. I am very, very happy and humbled to be able to do this. But with “Guten Morgen Deutschland” and my art show “ntv Inside Art”, which is still going on, it’s very difficult to reconcile that. So from now on a clear focus on K and K: children and art. And after 31 years getting up at 2 a.m., sleeping a little longer.
How is your team set up?
We work with a very small but incredibly efficient, motivated, amazing team. In the inner circle we are only five people. If I compare that with other large foundations in Germany, we have a relatively small staff. But we can – that’s the great fortune at RTL – draw on many resources in-house. That’s why it works, otherwise it wouldn’t even work in size.
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To what extent has the Ukraine war changed your work in the past three weeks?
The past few weeks have been and still are the most exhausting I’ve ever had in my job at RTL. We started helping the children and their families in Ukraine on the first day of the war. The dynamic of this war is shocking for all of us, but the dynamic of the help and the willingness to help is also overwhelming. I have never experienced such solidarity and such a willingness to donate in 27 years.
How many donations have already been collected?
We are now at more than 22 million euros. Usually, when we do the donation marathon, we also have a lot of large donors, but now we basically have a lot of small to medium-sized donations. Hundreds of thousands of SMS have come, each helping with ten euros. That’s more donations from users and spectators in relation to what we have at the marathon.
You must be proud of that, right?
“The most important thing in the aid is that it is structured and made intelligent,” emphasizes Wolfram Kons.
(Photo: picture alliance / Hasan Bratic)
No, this is not the time to pat yourself on the back. Of course we are happy about the donations because we can help immediately. And that people trust us. You can do that, we show every day where we are already helping on site with the donations. But I would gladly forego every single euro donation if it weren’t for this horrible occasion. The overall willingness to help is really great.
Where exactly does the donated money go?
It is immediately forwarded to our partners who will help on site. We have been working with many NGOs for three decades now, these are grown, highly professional structures of trust. We know exactly that if, for example, the organization action medeor drives off with Euro pallets full of medicines, medicines and bandages, it will arrive immediately. This also applies to SOS Children’s Villages, Unicef, the UN refugee agency, Caritas, the Malteser or International Search and Rescue. It is now important to get the aid to the people quickly while safe corridors are still open in Ukraine.
Does this turn out to be difficult?
We were still able to use corridors this week, we also got very close to the western city limits of Kyiv. There was a transfer point where people from the hospitals and a day care center came and picked up the things and brought them into the city. But it is unclear how long these corridors will continue to exist, which is why we are following all talks about a ceasefire, maybe even peace, very closely so that we know where we can still get help in and, above all, where people can get out.
Where else do you help?
We are also very strong at the borders in Poland, Moldova and Romania with our partners. There is not only warm soup, cocoa or toys for the children, but also psychological support. This is very, very important, because otherwise the children will carry this unbelievable trauma around with them for the rest of their lives. Something is planted in their hearts and brains that must not have a dominating place there: violence, death, flight and separation.
In the media you often see pictures of children who have to be cared for in bunkers because the children’s hospitals are being bombed. Are you in direct contact with the doctors or helpers on site?
Every day about all the organizations we work with. We have now heard from Unicef colleagues, for example, that the clinic in the Ukrainian city of Lviv is completely overwhelmed by children injured in the war. There they talk about triage for children. The injured children are given differently colored slips of paper stating how urgently they need treatment. A black piece of paper means: We will not be able to save this child, so no treatment. Can you imagine that?
What shocks you most about the war?
It is really dramatic that in 2022 – when, despite a record world population, everyone could be provided with education, food, clothing and accommodation thanks to logistics, technology and digitization – we will fall back into the darkest Middle Ages. An attempt is being made to put a siege ring around a city like Kyiv in order to starve and thirst the people. It’s like it used to be, when castles were surrounded in the darkest days of chivalry. It’s so absurd, so inhuman that you can hardly find words for it.
What about the sick Ukrainian children who come to Germany as refugees? Do you also see some of the donated money?
Yes, we not only take care of children and families in the Ukraine and those who have fled directly at the borders, but also of those who have fled to us in Germany. It’s also about children with massive physical handicaps or orphans. For example, together with our partners in Berlin, we were able to ensure that more than 100 orphans, who are well cared for in the Jewish community in Chabad, are fully cared for in the first quarter. Very important: We can drum and collect donations, the caregivers on site do the most important job with the children.
Not everyone who wants to donate money can afford it. What can you do instead? What do people in Ukraine need most urgently?
Sure, of course ten euros is a lot of money for many people, especially when I look at the current food, energy or fuel costs. But with ten euros you can really help us. The most important thing in the help is that it is structured and made intelligent. Well meant is often not done well. People make their way to the borders alone to deliver packages or pick up refugees. But in doing so, they often clog up the last free corridors for the professionals who are there to help. I advise looking locally to see who you can join, whether it’s Caritas, a small church community or the Red Cross.
How long will the relief effort continue?
As long as we can and must help the Ukrainians. Of course, the willingness to donate also depends on the media presence. When this decreases, readiness is very quickly forgotten. We know that. But many refugees will stay here for a while. Not to mention the reconstruction of the destroyed hospitals, schools and kindergartens. But we at the RTL Foundation are known for staying on for a very long time.
What do you say to the people in this country who are slowly getting tired of the war?
That can not be true. If we say this here on the 22nd day of the war – perhaps because of a media overload – what does it mean for the people who are sitting in the middle of it? It’s a matter of life and death for them.
Linn Penkert spoke to Wolfram Kons
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