Helpers help helpers: Volkswagen Refugee Aid calls for support
Volkswagen Refugee Aid's major "Donate Warmth" appeal mobilizes Volkswagen AG's workforce. With the donations in kind, Volkswagen employees provide immediate help in the crisis regions of Ukraine threatened by cold and darkness.
Less threatening, but similarly strenuous: the daily work of volunteers at aid facilities for refugees in Germany. Volkswagen has provided 59 Multivans alone to aid organizations in Lower Saxony and Kassel, which do their daily duty: from the central canteen to the children's clinic, from the collective reception center to the initial accommodation. The buses are often driven by volunteers. And in February, they hardly expected that their work would last more than ten months.
Volkswagen Group Refugee Aid and Volkswagen's digital engagement platform "Gemeinsam Engagiert" want to support the volunteer aid organizations at the plant locations in Hanover, Braunschweig and Wolfsburg, as well as in other regions, and have launched the "Helpers Help Helpers" appeal for this purpose.
"The men and women who drive our cars every day on humanitarian missions have a high level of sympathy for Volkswagen. They are grateful to our company for providing them with much-needed mobility, but they also value our products. Now we want to show how much we appreciate the volunteers from our location regions," says Dr. Thymian Bussemer, Head of Group Refugee Aid.
On the online platform, Volkswagen Refugee Aid has advertised how anyone and everyone can provide volunteer support near their home. There are many opportunities to help: For example, helping the Johanniter Christmas truckers in Hanover pack Christmas presents or tracking down missing people with the Braunschweig drone and rescue dog squadron.
The local aid organizations of the DRK, Malteser and Johanniter have told Volkswagen how best to appreciate them. As different as the wishes are, it's always about the same thing: a few hours of time from helping hands.