It's uncomfortable outside, dark and winter! While many of us are sitting well sheltered in the warm, many homeless, sick and displaced people are having a really hard time. This is also true for the people who help the needy in the aid facilities on a daily basis, because the Corona pandemic has made many things more difficult.
Alexandra Knauer, Managing Director of KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH, regularly engages in social activities with her company. She had given her 150 employees a great pleasure when she had the so-called Corona Bonus transferred to them in addition to their salaries shortly before the beginning of winter. She would like to help beyond her company’s scope, both in Berlin and outside of Germany.
KNAUER therefore supports the help for homeless people of the Berlin City Mission with a donation of 10,000 euros.The Stadtmission is an established institution that can react flexibly to new needs and is, for example, the first homeless aid organization in Germany to offer a quarantine shelter for Corona infected people. The intended use of the donation was discussed in advance and the handover of the cheque took place on 18-Dec-2020 at KNAUER in Berlin-Zehlendorf.
Ute Rastert from the Berlin City Mission reports that everyone who wants to enter the emergency shelter or the homeless outpatient clinic currently has to be tested for Corona with a rapid test. This is not feasible in the long term with medical students working on a voluntary basis, so the test center receives EUR 7,000.
When providing medical care to the homeless, there are many bandage changes to be made. The wounds of the homeless are often infected, expand and develop necrotic. 3,000 euros are used for the purchase of wound bandages.
"During our last Company Social Day in January 2020 we got to know and appreciate some sympathetic people at two locations of the City Mission. We have full confidence that our new donation will be used there responsibly and purposefully and bring a lot of benefit," says Alexandra Knauer.
Janneke Bastmeijer has been working at the reception desk at KNAUER for 25 years. Every now and then she sends a lovingly filled package with small surprises to the now 14-year-old company foster child Tawane in Brazil. The support for the girl and the annual payments to Plan International began back in 2007.
"Plan International is very committed and regularly informs us how Tawane is developing and about the measures and successes in her region. She and her family are doing well as far as we know. I am happy, that we now transfer an additional 10,000 EUR to this organization!“, Ms. Bastmeijer is pleased.
Another EUR 10,000 will go to "Uno Flüchtlingshilfe e.V. ", because 79.5 million people worldwide are on refuge. For many of them, the dramatic situation will unfortunately most likely continue in 2021.
The "Berliner Stadtmission" cares for the weak and needy in society. Its services include, for example, family and educational support, assistance for drug addicts and people with criminal convictions, housing projects for senior citizens and many other social services. Support for homeless people is an important part of the work. More at: www.berliner-stadtmission.de.
"Plan International" is active in more than 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America worldwide. Plan is committed to a world in which all children can freely develop and flourish. The spread of the coronavirus poses unprecedented challenges for Plan International's aid workers and their work. They are devoting their attention primarily to the girls and boys and the families in their project areas. On the one hand, there is a lack of access to clean water and sanitary facilities, and on the other, the far-reaching closure of schools is also a major problem. This is because the risk of not returning to school after an interruption is great. Food insecurity is also worsening. Therefore, the children and their families continue to urgently need help! www.plan.de
"Uno Flüchtlingshilfe e.V." works worldwide to ensure the survival of refugees and to protect their rights. Fast, life-saving emergency aid in the event of a crisis is the main focus. Its largest and closest partner is UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. More at: www.uno-fluechtlingshilfe.de
For more than 58 years, the family-owned company "KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH" has been developing high-tech laboratory measuring instruments, for example analytical and preparative HPLC, which are sold to over 70 countries. Alexandra Knauer, who manages the company in the second generation, attaches great importance to corporate responsibility towards employees as well as towards the environment and society. More information at www.knauer.net