10 Years of Christmas Donations: Nagel-Group supports SOS-Kinderdorf
Hamburg. Helping children in need, giving them the security of a family and everything they need to live, including the opportunity to go to school and lay the foundations for a carefree life of their own – these are the goals pursued by SOS-Kinderdorf e.V.. The independent organisation is committed to helping needy children and their families in Germany and around the world. Nagel-Group has been supporting SOS-Kinderdorf with its Christmas donation for 10 years. What started in 2013 has now become a tradition: various SOS-Kinderdorf projects are selected by voting and provided with financial resources. This year is no exception: the 2023 Christmas donation starts today. Employees and customers can vote for their favourite project again until 17.12.23.
“We want to make a difference with our donations. We want the money to go where it is needed and to do something worthwhile with it. SOS-Kinderdorf absolutely fulfils this requirement: Because no child should live in poverty,” said Marion Nagel at the meeting with SOS-Kinderdorf. To mark the 10-year partnership with the aid organisation, the Chairwoman of the Nagel-Group Board of Directors invited SOS-Kinderdorf to the Hamburg branch. She met with Tanja Plath, who has been working for the aid organisation for 15 years and has accompanied all joint fundraising campaigns.
f.l.t.r. Tanja Plath, Corporate Co-operation Officer of SOS-Kinderdorf, and Marion Nagel, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Nagel-Group
“It’s incredibly important for us to have partners like Nagel-Group who are committed on a long-term basis. Because we want to create long-term programmes: here in Germany, in Europe or in crisis areas,” said Tanja Plath. SOS-Kinderdorf has its own facilities all over the world. They advise families, organise children’s and youth clubs where children can play, learn or make music. They bring different generations together and provide a home for children who cannot stay with their own families. “In Germany, a child had to be removed from their family for their own protection every 13 minutes in 2022,” reported Tanja Plath. Every fifth child lives in poverty.
At SOS-Kinderdorf, children find “a piece of home”, says Plath. The fact that this is often successful is particularly evident at Christmas time: “At Christmas, many SOS-Kinderdorf children who are now adults come back to their village. And spend the festive season there. They stay connected to their village for generations, even though the children who live there are now different to those from their time. It is their family.”
“Any family can find themselves in an emergency situation through no fault of their own. I greatly appreciate your work and we trust SOS-Kinderdorf as our strong partner for social projects,” said Marion Nagel. The partnership began in 2010 with a fundraising campaign for Haiti to mark the company’s 75th anniversary. 75,000 euros were donated followin the devastating earthquake disaster. The annual Christmas donation has been organised since 2013, with a lifetime total of almost 500,000 euros. In addition, 10,000 euros were donated to SOS-Kinderdorf this year for the earthquake victims in Syria. SOS-Kinderdorf does not have its own facilities in Turkey, so a further 10,000 euros went to the organisation “Save the Children”.
“We reacted to a special situation in the short term, just as we did a year earlier when the war in Ukraine broke out,” said Marion Nagel. Long-term partnerships are particularly important, however. The Nagel-Group should fulfil its social responsibility through sustainable and reliable commitments, explained Marion Nagel. The SOS-Kinderdorf projects are close to her heart, and every year she pre-selects the projects that are then put to the vote. “It’s important to me to know what happens with the donations. Even if the selection is so difficult every year.”
The interest in the results is correspondingly high. And also for the development of the projects that SOS-Kinderdorf reports on during the year. Marion Nagel has vivid memories of visiting a village in the Czech Republic in 2014: “I was there with my daughter and the people were very welcoming. I remember that they were incredibly proud that a child from their village had achieved the Abitur, the first time someone from this SOS-Kinderdorf had done so.”
An SOS-organisation from the Czech Republic will once again be chosen for the 2023 Christmas donation. Projects from Poland, Sweden, Hungary and Germany will also be supported. Nagel-Group employees can help decide which project receives which donation amount. Here you can find more information on the current projects and the link to vote.
