The very first “Day of Hope” was organised on November 30, 2002 within the Specialist Retail companies. Over 450 volunteer employees were involved and a total of €30,341 were collected and donated to the organisation “Les Clowns de l'Espoir” (Clowns of Hope) who visit hospitalised children. On May 17, 2003, 438 employees donated their time to pack 36,400 parcels to help disabled youngsters participate in the handisport competition “Jeux Nationaux de l'Avenir Handisport”. In 2004, 46,000 Euros were collected and donated to Mascotte, an organisation working with autistic children who used the donation to buy a customised minibus. In 2005, nearly 500 volunteers packed La Redoute parcels for a total of 1,842 hours! The wage equivalent of €50,000, matched by a contribution from SolidarCité, paid for building a school in Sri Lanka jointly with the organisation “Aide et Action”, and for the construction of an outdoors playground at the Pouponnière Boussicault, a nursery centre for disadvantaged toddlers.On Saturday May 12, 2007, almost 400 La Redoute employees once again responded to the call of SolidarCité and donated their time at the La Martinoire logistical platform, in several shifts from 5:00 am to noon, for a total count of 1,300 hours, or a wage equivalent of €28,000 donated by the company. The amount was shared between four organisations: “Ensemble pour marcher” to the benefit of children suffering from cerebral palsy; “Oxygène bleu” who offers leisure activities to underprivileged children with support from retired seniors; AMMI supplying upright wheelchairs to children suffering from mitochondrial diseases; and the Nadaud secondary school to help in the creation of a resource centre equipped with computers and board games to turn the school into a social venue.