100,000 euros UNICEF donation helps with emergency relief for Ukraine

"It was our goal to support an organisation with our donation that helps refugees directly and quickly, offers them safety and provides psychological as well as medical assistance." Eva van Pelt and Dr Peter Fruhstorfer

A support package that will help refugees from the Ukraine with rapid and uncomplicated assistance has been launched by life science company Eppendorf. Including a cash donation of €100,000 to the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, the initiative also includes an internal company aid program supporting European Eppendorf employees wishing to take time off to become involved in refugee relief.

"Numerous colleagues at Eppendorf have family members or friends from Ukraine, some of which are still in Ukraine," said Eva van Pelt and Dr Peter Fruhstorfer, Co-CEOs of Eppendorf SE. "With our Corporate Volunteering Program, we give them and all employees of our company in Europe the opportunity to get involved with and volunteer for a refugee support organisation during working hours."

For this purpose, the more than 3,300 Eppendorf employees working for the company in Europe can take up to eight paid working hours off, the Co-CEOs added. This arrangement is valid until the end of the year and will be handled unbureaucratically and very flexibly, the Hamburg-based company added.

Donation used directly along refugee routes

With the cash donation of €100,000, Eppendorf is supporting the work of UNICEF and its partners in areas where aid is particularly urgently needed. Among other things, the money will go to so-called 'Blue Dots' that UNICEF is currently setting up in Poland, Moldova, Romania, Belarus, Hungary and Slovakia. These are contact points along the escape routes that can provide 3,000 to 5,000 people a month with initial emergency care. Here, refugees – especially children – receive initial medical care and psychosocial support to help them work through the trauma of flight and violence. Families find a safe place to sleep, as well as advice and information. Furthermore, the Blue Dots also help identify unaccompanied children separated from their parents and ensure their protection. In addition, UNICEF, together with its partners, also helps directly in the conflict areas – as far as this is possible. They bring urgently needed relief supplies directly to Ukraine, such as food, water, hygiene items and medical equipment for hospitals.

"It was our goal to support an organisation with our donation that helps refugees directly and quickly, offers them safety and provides psychological as well as medical assistance," Eva van Pelt and Dr Peter Fruhstorfer explain the decision. "With UNICEF, we have found exactly this partner. We are very happy about that."

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