STORY: Musician and entertainer Frank Zander received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class on Monday. The award was presented to him by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace on “Volunteering Day”. With the award of the Federal Cross of Merit, Zander was honored for his commitment to the homeless. Every year since 1995, the 80-year-old star from Berlin has organized a Christmas party with a show program for the needy. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: “Homeless people are freezing in our country, too, in the midst of peace, in the midst of prosperity. They spend the night under the open sky when it’s frosty and try hard, you all know that, to alleviate the cold with some newspaper. Without the help of People like you, whom I am honored to honor today, some of these people would probably not get through this winter at all.” Due to the corona pandemic, the Christmas party cannot take place again this year. Instead, as in 2021, Zander supports the Caritas “Foodtruck”, a mobile canteen, with a donation of 30,000 euros. In addition, Zander will personally help with the mobile food distribution from December 19th to 22nd. Steinmeier awarded a total of 15 people with the medal under the motto “Live humanity: create ways out of poverty”.