Every year, thousands of RedCross volunteers walk the streets of Mexico with their collection boxes to support the organisation's annual fundraising drive.Lately, large corporate donors have eclipsed the donating culture of Mexicans making people feel that their contribution is insignificant. This, and the deep economic 2009 crisis, were threatening to affect the success of this year’s efforts.The objective was to prevent the difficult economic situation from affecting the fundraising drive.So we built coin-operated kiddie rides featuring RedCross vehicles so that kids could play hero while their parents used them as collection boxes. The machines were placed at public places like parks, stores and malls across the nation.The importance of every single donation was now easy to see and feel. And it was also fun.In this year of crisis, collection was expected to drop considerably, but the campaign aimed at reaching at least last year's results.

This year, we couldn’t just do the same old-fashioned fundraising drive. We needed to regain the attention on the streets, to get the people involved, interested, inspired.We built coin-operated kiddie rides featuring Red Cross vehicles so that kids could play hero while their parents used them as collection boxes. The machines were placed at public places like parks, stores and malls across the nation.The importance of every single donation was now easy to see and feel. And it was also fun.With these machines, we reinvented the traditional “collection boxes”.Both kids and their parents were able to give coins and instantly see the effect of their donation: the ambulance, the helicopter and the boat moved just as the Red Cross moves.And for the first time, the Red Cross could give something back to you in exchange for your coins: a moment of joy.The campaign was supported by varied media channels like TV, cinema, press and billboards. These also featured the kiddie rides and the motto: ''Your help can keep us going''.

Response to the campaign was overwhelming. People formed lines to get their kids to ride and the experience generated important word-of-mouth.The brand was immediately rewarded with huge free publicity. The Red Cross experienced unprecedented media coverage by generating an estimated $1.1 million dollars in earned media during the first week alone.Collection not only didn't drop but increased by 23% compared to 2009.The concept of “we all keep the Red Cross going, one coin at a time” is now well known throughout Mexico.