Entertainment helps children in a hospital in Montluçon, France, to get better more quickly. Some of our employees spend their free time with the young patients. Group activities and visits from hospital clowns or singers help the children forget their worries and pain, and make them think of other things, at least for a while.

In the USA, people all over the country were invited to submit suggestions as to the community that was most urgently in need of clean-up and restoration work. An Internet vote was carried out to decide who should be visited by the “Henkel – A Brand like a Friend” team. Selected was the city of Gainesville, Texas, which had been ravaged by a terrible flood. Twenty of our employees visited the city in September 2007 to help with the task of clearing up the damage. In the Henkel bus, they had plenty of cleaning and hygiene products with them.

In 2007, building on the successful “Giving Children a Future” project conducted the previous year in cooperation with UNESCO, the Schauma brand started the “Education and Life” project in Western Kenya, again in collaboration with UNESCO. This region is the part of Kenya that has been hardest hit by the HIV virus. Many parents fall ill and leave their children behind alone. In this new campaign, the Bethsatha Children’s Home, located near the city of Kisumu and run by experienced social workers, is supported by Henkel employees who do volunteer work there. Thanks to financial donations from the Schauma brand as well as coordination and assistance by local UNESCO employees, the orphaned children receive medical care and can attend school.  The children therefore have prospects for the future. What makes this project special is that the Children’s Home was founded in 2003 by employees of Henkel Kenya Ltd., volunteering as part of the MIT “Employee Engagement.” UNESCO was so convinced of the value of this project that it was accepted as the first project in its program with outside financing.

The 100th birthday of Persil, celebrated under the motto “100 years of Persil – Better than ever,” was marked in Germany by “Project Futurino.” The aim of this project was to improve opportunities for development and education for children and young people. Consumers were asked to nominate children’s and young people’s projects that deserved to be supported. From more than 2,500 submissions, 197 non-profit projects were selected. Thanks to “Project Futurino,” more than 40,000 children and young people throughout Germany now receive special support. In view of its great success and the positive response, the project will be continued in 2008.

In mid-2007, HFI e.V. provided immediate relief aid for earthquake victims in Peru. Within just a few minutes, the earthquake in the Ica region had destroyed everything for which the approximately 160,000 people living in Comamtrana and Ica had worked hard for years. In the middle of the poor supply situation, the funds provided by HFI e.V. made it possible to purchase vital food, which was generally in short supply.

December 2007: As the result of volunteer teamwork by Henkel employees in Düsseldorf and Peru, financial aid by HFI e.V. ensures the continued provision of supplies for the Mathilde Tellez children’s day care facility in Lima. The children, who are 3 to 4 years old and whose mothers are mainly underage as well, are given a hot meal here every day. A Christmas campaign conducted by Henkel employees also facilitated the “200 warm children’s feet” campaign, which provided socks and lined shoes for one hundred children.

For disadvantaged street children in Ventilla, Peru, the “External Attention Center” is an important sanctuary. Care is provided here daily for children who otherwise would not have a hot meal. Henkel employees are helping to renovate and enlarge the building. The MIT Initiative provides financial aid for the expansion and for the daily care of the children.

Employees help disadvantaged street children in Bonga, Philippines. The musical talents of the children are discovered and fostered. Due to this support the Rondalla Group of young guitarists was founded in 2006. The MIT initiative made it possible to purchase the necessary instruments.

At the end of 2006, a powerful typhoon swept over the Bicol region of the Philippines and destroyed everything the people there had built up over the course of years. Henkel employees were on the spot immediately and provided victims with vital items such as food and clothing. The many employees working together proactively, as well as immediate financial aid, made it possible for local rebuilding efforts to begin without delay and gave the people hope – by restoring a school, for example.

In January 2007, the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, was struck by one of the worst floods of the past five years. After days of rainfall, some 70 percent of the city was under water. People needed immediate help. The financial support of HFI enabled food, water and medicine to be provided.

In mid-2007, HFI e.V. provided immediate relief aid for earthquake victims in Peru. Within just a few minutes, the earthquake in the Ica region had destroyed everything for which the approximately 160,000 people living in Comamtrana and Ica had worked hard for years. In the middle of the poor supply situation, the funds provided by HFI e.V. made it possible to purchase vital food, which was generally in short supply.

December 2007: As the result of volunteer teamwork by Henkel employees in Düsseldorf and Peru, financial aid by HFI e.V. ensures the continued provision of supplies for the Mathilde Tellez children’s day care facility in Lima. The children, who are 3 to 4 years old and whose mothers are mainly underage as well, are given a hot meal here every day. A Christmas campaign conducted by Henkel employees also facilitated the “200 warm children’s feet” campaign, which provided socks and lined shoes for one hundred children.

The 100th birthday of Persil, celebrated under the motto “100 years of Persil – Better than ever,” was marked in Germany by “Project Futurino.” The aim of this project was to improve opportunities for development and education for children and young people. Consumers were asked to nominate children’s and young people’s projects that deserved to be supported. From more than 2,500 submissions, 197 non-profit projects were selected. Thanks to “Project Futurino,” more than 40,000 children and young people throughout Germany now receive special support. In view of its great success and the positive response, the project will be continued in 2008.

In 2007, building on the successful “Giving Children a Future” project conducted the previous year in cooperation with UNESCO, the Schauma brand started the “Education and Life” project in Western Kenya, again in collaboration with UNESCO. This region is the part of Kenya that has been hardest hit by the HIV virus. Many parents fall ill and leave their children behind alone. In this new campaign, the Bethsatha Children’s Home, located near the city of Kisumu and run by experienced social workers, is supported by Henkel employees who do volunteer work there. Thanks to financial donations from the Schauma brand as well as coordination and assistance by local UNESCO employees, the orphaned children receive medical care and can attend school.  The children therefore have prospects for the future. What makes this project special is that the Children’s Home was founded in 2003 by employees of Henkel Kenya Ltd., volunteering as part of the MIT “Employee Engagement.” UNESCO was so convinced of the value of this project that it was accepted as the first project in its program with outside financing.

In the USA, people all over the country were invited to submit suggestions as to the community that was most urgently in need of clean-up and restoration work. An Internet vote was carried out to decide who should be visited by the “Henkel – A Brand like a Friend” team. Selected was the city of Gainesville, Texas, which had been ravaged by a terrible flood. Twenty of our employees visited the city in September 2007 to help with the task of clearing up the damage. In the Henkel bus, they had plenty of cleaning and hygiene products with them.