Since 24 February, there has been a state of war in Europe. Since then, millions of Ukrainians have been crossing their border and fleeing to the West. The destruction of infrastructure and the devastation are leading to life being unbearable for millions of people.
Fundraising campaign for the Ukraine
WIKA would like to help these people and therefore started a fundraising campaign. During this, employees around the world collected about € 80,000 of aid funding which the company topped up to a total of € 150,000. Part of this amount has already been donated to various regional aid organisations:
-
Aid organisations
€ 5,000 to Caritas Erlenbach for the local support of refugees from the Ukraine - € 20,000 to the Bavarian Red Cross, i.e. to its regional association in Miltenberg-Obernburg for its emergency aid support for the Ukraine
- € 20,000 to the Lower Franconia regional association of the AWO (Arbeiterwohlfahrt, a national workers’ welfare association) for its central aid project “MEDI-HILFE UKRAINE”
The remaining part of the donation has been set aside to support people returning to the Ukraine and for reconstruction work.
Accommodation of refugees
Following the arrival of the first refugees in Germany, WIKA contacted the Miltenberg and provided a building in Plant 2 in Klingenberg am Main as emergency accommodation. This has bedrooms and sanitary facilities as well as a large communal kitchen with two banks of kitchen equipment and a leisure room.
The first group soon arrived in this accommodation through an initiative of the Lions Club and CEO Alexander Wiegand. A second group with mostly women and children were placed directly through the the ‘WIKA Casino’.
To give the refugees a certain degree of mobility, WIKA also provided various sizes of e-bike for them to use. The local bicycle shop, “Fahrrad Mertens” in Obernburg, got involved in this by helping to measure people up for the right bike, by providing personal instruction in how to use them and by giving everyone a free helmet.
Note
Further information on WIKA can be found on the WIKA website.