World champion, European runner-up, German champion, DFB Cup winner and countless other national and international titles: Lukas Podolski is a football idol far beyond the borders of Germany. But "Poldi" is also fully committed off the pitch. Back in 2010, he set up his own Lukas Podolski Foundation with the aim of realising sports and educational projects for disadvantaged children and young people.

"Lukas Podolski was my favourite candidate for the role of Förderpenny ambassador. He has been successfully involved in supporting children and young people for more than a decade. Just like us with the Förderpenny. I was particularly impressed by the fact that he is so interested in our project and that it is obviously a matter close to his heart. And Poldi is a down-to-earth guy, which makes him a perfect fit for PENNY," says Stefan Magel, Divisional Director Retail Germany and COO PENNY.

"It is extremely important to support disadvantaged children and young people in particular. I see this again and again in my foundation, the talent that lies dormant there that just needs to be discovered and supported. I think it's great that the Förderpenny supports smaller associations and organisations in particular. The donation mechanism is super simple and it's really easy to do something good. I'm looking forward to working with them," adds Lukas Podolski.

This year, around 3,000 clubs - an increase of more than 350 per cent compared to the previous year (2021: 857) - applied for one of the 520 regional Förderpenny awards. More than ever before. Since PENNY launched the initiative in 2015, more than three million euros in funding has been distributed to organisations involved in supporting children and young people.

"I am delighted that we have a record participation of almost 3,000 organisations. This shows how high the fundamental need for additional financial support obviously is. But it is certainly also an indication of the attractiveness of the Förderpenny. Especially in times of great uncertainty due to wars and the pandemic, it is extremely important to promote and support children and young people. In total, the funding amounts to 762,500 euros," says Stefan Magel.

This year, the project office selected two local winning organisations in each of 260 neighbourhood regions. The voting phase for each of the 260 duos nationwide began on 15 August. During the voting period, which runs until 11 September, customers and supporters of the organisations can vote for their favourite on www.foederpenny.de every day. Depending on their ranking, the organisations will not only receive prize money from PENNY (1st place €1,500, 2nd place €1,000 per neighbourhood region), but the 260 winners will also benefit from round-up donations from all PENNY stores in their neighbourhood region in the coming year. With the Förderpenny round-up mechanism, PENNY customers conveniently donate to the respective local winner at the checkout as soon as they say "That's right" when paying. The amount of the receipt is then automatically rounded up to the nearest 10 cents.