Donations instead of gifts. Marbach supports charity projects.

An eventful year has come to an end for the cutting-die and thermoforming tool manufacturer Marbach. Marbach has a nice tradition of making donations at Christmas instead of giving presents to customers. When selecting recipients, it is important for the Marbach management to divide the money between internationally known and regionally respected institutions. Because the Heilbronn-based company is active all over the world .This year, Marbach has donated 7,000 euros to help in Burkina Faso and 3,000 euros to the protection against freezing to death by the Aufbaugilde Heilbronn.

International donation to Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V. in Burkina Faso
The situation in Burkina Faso is growing steadily worse. People living in the countryside are suffering from hunger. Due to poor soil conditions, dryness of the soil and climate fluctuations, it is difficult to cultivate food. Hunger and a lack of prospects often lead young people to join radical groups. Their hope is to earn enough money as mercenaries to feed their parents, brothers and sisters and their own families. An alternative is to flee their homeland for another country. 

Marbach Managing Director Peter Marbach: "We want to give the young people in Burkina Faso hope and motivate them to build a viable economic existence. After all, fleeing their everyday lives or their country are options for the people. But certainly not good ones. A path with many dangers and great uncertainty. Surely it is better for every human being to be able to build up a permanent standing and have a chance of a happy life? With our donation we want to support the people of Burkina Faso in their efforts to do so."

The Marbach donation will finance care of 350 families. These families will receive basic agricultural equipment and seed to cultivate 0.5 hectares of land and to be able to provide for themselves. They will be accompanied and trained so that self-sufficiency will be guaranteed in the long term. 

Peter Marbach continues: "The good thing about this donation: : The Federal Foreign Office considers the project to be particularly worthy of support and will finance 90 percent of it. The Marbach donation goes towards Help's 10 percent contribution and will thus be increased tenfold." 

On the 3rd of December 2018, Bianca Kaltschmitt, Deputy Managing Director of Help, accepted the donation cheque from Peter Marbach. Mrs. Kaltschmitt thanked Mr. Marbach for the generous support and the inspiring exchange of information: "Help is pleased about Marbach’s third Christmas donation in a row as well as ongoing trust in our work."

You can find more information about the project here: www.help-ev.de/en/country/burkina-faso

Regional donation to the Aufbaugilde Heilbronn: protection against freezing to death
This year's regional donation of 3,000 euros will support Aufbaugilde Heilbronn gGmbH. Winter is particularly hard for homeless people. Every winter in Germany people freeze to death under bridges, on park benches, in house entrances or in seemingly safe sheds. This is something that should be prevented in Heilbronn. Therefore the Aufbaugilde Heilbronn has been supporting homeless people for many years. Under the initiative “frost protection” people who are excluded from the housing market can take advantage of help against cold and protection against freezing to death during the winter. From November to March they can stay overnight in one of the 16 existing places. The frost protection is open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and offers a warm and dry place to sleep. In the support center of the Aufbaugilde there is a free breakfast after the night and the possibility to take a shower. This project is financed exclusively by donations.

Peter Marbach: "It is almost unimaginable for me that people in Germany today are destined to die from exposure to cold. Due to the intensified situation in the housing market the Aufbaugilde expects the numbers of homeless people to rise still further. With our donation of 3,000 euros we can cover the costs of 240 nights of frost protection and contribute our part in ensuring that no one in Heilbronn will be left to freeze to death this winter." 

On the 28th of November 2018, Hans-Martin Klenk, head of the specialist counselling center for the homeless, accepted the donation cheque from Peter Marbach.

More information to the project can be found here: www.spendetwaerme.de

About „Help e.V. – Help for Self-Help”
Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e. V., is a humanitarian aid organization based in Bonn, Germany. It was founded in 1981. The main focus of Help's work is on global emergency and disaster relief, but also on long-term development aid and reconstruction projects. Help supports people who are in distress due to disasters, persecution or for other reasons. According to the principle of "help for self-help", Help supports the efforts of those affected to improve their living conditions on their own.

About Aufbaugilde gGmbH
The Aufbaugilde is a social welfare organization which has been active for many years in the areas of homeless aid and unemployment support. The responsible partners are municipalities, churches in the region, the Diakonische Werk (a social charity of the Lutheran Church in Germany), welfare associations and private individuals.