Helping people and showing solidarity: SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS) with Dillinger and Saarstahl donate EUR 1 million to help Ukraine

“The war in Ukraine and the suffering it is causing has shaken us to our core,” said Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler, Chairman of the Board of Management of SHS – Stahl-Holding Saar and CEO of Dillinger and Saarstahl, describing the major aid campaign. “People have to abandon their homes in fear for their lives and are helpless in the face of the violence that has erupted in their homeland. With our donation of EUR million, we want to quickly target our help to these people. It is important for us to fulfill our social and societal responsibility as a company and to show solidarity with the people affected by the war.”

Köhler presented the donation checks today in Völklingen to the Herzenssache (in English: “Matter of the Heart”) and Malteser Hilfsdienst organizations, together with Joerg Disteldorf, Managing Director of SHS – Stahl-Holding Saar and Chief Human Resources Officer of Dillinger and Saarstahl, as well as the Works Councils of the companies.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks to SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar and all the employees for their impressive corporate commitment and for once again donating EUR 500,000 to Herzenssache e.V.,” said Gitta Haucke, CEO of Herzenssache e.V. “With your donation of EUR 520,000 for flood relief last year and EUR 500,000 for refugee aid this year, you are proving to be a strong network partner in times of crisis. Together we are ensuring that children and adolescents are protected and supported during this challenging time. We appreciate your enormous trust in us and we guarantee: every euro donated is guaranteed to go where it is needed.” Haucke continued: “We are already helping children and adolescents from Ukraine upon their arrival at around 30 locations in the southwest. Our projects take people in, offer them hope, and help them process the terrible experience of war. Thank you for being part of our regional network and for making our matter of the heart your own as well.”

Malteser Hilfsdienst has maintained close ties with Ukraine for three decades. Malteser also helps people affected by the war in Ukraine in neighboring countries and in Germany. It organizes aid transport and receives people arriving in border regions such as in Poland, Romania and Hungary. People seeking protection there receive food, warm clothing and blankets, receive medical care, and are distributed among possible shelters. Specialists provide psychological help on site where possible.

Malteser from Saarlouis and Lebach have already been able to organize and send 15 aid transports to Ukraine with urgently needed material donations including medical material, camp beds, field kitchens, food and hygiene articles since the beginning of the war – and additional aid transports are also being planned,” said Bernd Schnabel, Malteser State Representative for Saarland. “We would like to express our sincere thanks to SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar and its subsidiaries Dillinger and Saarstahl for their generous donation, which continues to make our help possible. The good contacts Malteser Saarlouis maintains in Ukraine guarantee that the aid will reach the places it is most needed,” Schnabel said.

The donation to the two aid organizations is only one part of the aid for Ukraine from the SHS Group companies. A working group consisting of Works Council members and employees is organizing numerous activities to benefit people from Ukraine affected by the war, thus contributing significantly to practical support efforts. These activities include collecting donations in kind and passing them on to charitable organizations, for example, and coordinating suggestions and projects from employees. These corporate relief activities also demonstrate that solidarity is firmly embedded in the corporate culture of the SHS Group.