Eppendorf donates 100,000 euros for Ukraine emergency relief and launches Corporate Volunteering Program
Hamburg, March 29, 2022 – Hamburg-based life science company Eppendorf has launched a comprehensive support package for refugees from Ukraine. The program is designed to provide rapid and uncomplicated assistance to those in need of protection. It includes a cash donation of 100,000 euros to the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, as well as an internal company aid program. This enables European Eppendorf employees to take time off with continued payment of wages and salaries to get involved in refugee relief, if they wish to do so.
- UNICEF donation of 100,000 euros for current emergency relief efforts
- Paid time off for more than 3,300 employees in Europe
- Volunteer commitment scheme for refugees to run until end of 2022
"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 organization 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.
100,000 euros for UNICEF for direct aid along refugee routes
With a cash donation of 100,000 euros, 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 organization 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."
About Eppendorf
Eppendorf is a leading life science company that develops and sells instruments, consumables and services for liquid, sample and cell handling in laboratories worldwide. Divided into the business units Liquid Handling, Consumables, Separation & Instrumentation, Bioprocess and Workflow Solutions, the product portfolio includes, for example, pipettes, pipette tips, centrifuges, mixers and ultra-low temperature equipment. In addition, Eppendorf offers a wide range of high-quality consumables.
Eppendorf products are most broadly used in academic and commercial research laboratories, e.g., in companies from the pharmaceutical and biotechnological as well as the chemical and food industries. They are also used in laboratories that perform clinical or environmental analysis, in forensic laboratories and in industrial laboratories where process analysis, production and quality assurance are performed.
Eppendorf has been active since 1945, is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, and employs about 5,000 employees worldwide. The Group has subsidiaries in 33 countries and is represented in all other continents and important markets by distributors.
Media contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Eppendorf SE
Barkhausenweg 1
22339 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 538 01-195
Mobil: +49 170 79 80 778
Mail: esper.r@eppendorf.de