For two years we have been supporting charitable initiatives with the sports lessons of our virtual Rieck sports club (converted into a donation). This year we asked our employees to suggest projects that should be funded. The response was great: We received around 50 inspiring contributions and selected three projects over the course of the year and supported them directly.
“The feedback showed us how much all colleagues care about social commitment,” explains Gunnar Jung, Managing Director at Rieck. “That’s why we now want to go one step further and have selected a HEART project that we will accompany and support in the long term.”
Spoiled for choice
The projects submitted made it clear which criteria are most important to employees: the area of child and youth work; a smaller organization where we can make a meaningful contribution; the regional proximity to our headquarters in Großbeeren. Now our Fit For Future steering committee has found the right initiative: the Jugendhof Brandenburg gemn.e.V.
The child and youth welfare facility not only offers educationally supervised residential groups and school-like support. At the same time, it is an agricultural business in which young people can prepare for a career in the areas of animal care, woodworking, gardening and agriculture as well as kitchen/housekeeping. The social-ecological concept also relies on animal education: a therapy horse rounds off the youth work.
“The concept is unique and really appealed to us,” says Gunnar Jung. In addition to the selection criteria, the youth welfare service scored points for the fact that farming follows Bioland guidelines and that there is a focus on environmental education and sustainability.
Tailored support
As a first step, we help you purchase a new therapy horse. In close consultation with the youth center, we will then determine which further help is most urgently needed. But the partnership should go beyond our willingness to donate: “It’s particularly nice that all colleagues can also get involved personally in voluntary work such as helping with harvests or building stables,” sums up Gunnar Jung. “This creates a completely different connection to the youth center.” Of course, we regularly provide information about our HEARTproject and action days on the Rieck channels.
