30 years of „ergo: wir helfen“

On March 16, shortly before the start of the lockdown, the employee organization „ergo: wir helfen“ turned 30. We reveal what colleagues have achieved ever since and during these particular times. 

Wolfgang Creutz (left to right), Julia Reis and Michael David

Homeless people were particularly affected by the lockdown measures. Wolfgang Creutz, treasurer of ergo: wir helfen e.V., saw the need – just like his colleagues from the Corporate Responsibility team. This led to a joint fundraising campaign by the association and the company.

30.000 euros for Coronavirus emergency aid

„Together with ERGO, we have supported soup kitchens at all seven locations. In addition, we have supported a facility in Freiburg, which we have been supporting for a long time following the suggestion of a sales partner who is personally involved there,“ explains Wolfgang Creutz. The association has so far donated more than 30.000 euros to Coronavirus emergency aid for projects in Germany and abroad. „This shows that we can help quickly and without bureaucracy. We know many projects because our colleagues are involved in different ways,“ adds Wolfgang Creutz.

Twice a year, the general meeting of the association's members' representatives, which is manned by 27 people, discusses funding applications by employees. For this meeting, the same applies as for annual general meetings of DAX companies: few participants on site, most of them connected via Skype and telephone. The participants discussed the 53 applications for projects in Germany and abroad, including those in the context of the Coronavirus emergency aid.

Supporting projects in the long term

„We take a close look at every project,“ says Michael David, 1st Chairman of the Association. „The projects are very diverse. For example, we have agreed to support hospital facilities, a children's village in Romania and the valuable work of a support group for parents whose child suffers from a very rare disease.“ A total of 46 projects will be sponsored and the funding of a few has been postponed to the next meeting. The aim is to support the projects in the long term in order to achieve sustainable results. „ This was and is a good decision because we usually receive feedback from the projects and initiatives,“ says Michael David.

Julia Ries, deputy chairwoman of the association, is particularly pleased when new contacts are made as a result of the support: „Our association has, for example, supported the Düsseldorf emergency shelter for drug-addicted young women called 'Knackpunkt'. This contact led to a lecture by a street worker about the drug use of young people in our office.“

Another example: „We have supported the soup kitchen in Berlin-Pankow as part of the Coronavirus emergency aid programme, where Berlin colleagues were involved in corporate volunteering last year. This is important and shows that ergo: wir helfen is part of our corporate culture.“

Text: Monika Stobrawe