For us, an eventful but also successful year is coming to an end. Right at the beginning of the year, the war in Ukraine caused market turbulence and triggered a procurement crisis. We met these challenges with good planning and inventory management.
For many years now, we have traditionally donated 10,000 € to aid projects at Christmas under the motto “Donations instead of gifts”. This year, due to the difficult situation in Ukraine, the management of Marbach decided to donate the entire amount to aid projects in connection with the war in Ukraine.
War has been raging in eastern Ukraine since 2014. In February 2022, the conflict escalated when Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on the night of February 24. Since the Russian invasion, things have been getting worse throughout the country. Several thousand Ukrainians have already been killed in the war. By the end of November, 6,655 civilians had been reported dead and 10,368 wounded. 17.7 million People in Ukraine are dependent on humanitarian aid.
Bianca Kaltschmitt, Managing Director at the aid organization Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V.: “Every day, the number of people fleeing this violence is increasing. So far, more than 7.8 million people have escaped to safety outside Ukraine, including many women and children. A large number of them are seeking refuge in neighboring countries such as Poland, Moldova, Hungary or Romania.”
According to the International Organization for Migration, there are also around 6.5 million Ukrainians fleeing within the country. Humanitarian aid and donations for Ukraine are therefore urgently needed. Bianca Kaltschmitt continues: “Already two weeks after the invasion, Help started with emergency aid for the people affected by the war in Ukraine as well as in the neighboring country Moldova. Through local partner organizations, we are currently distributing humanitarian aid, providing psychological and medical care, and supporting agricultural businesses.”
Peter Marbach, Managing Director of Marbach, is aware of the critical nature of the situation: “Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, missile attacks and artillery fire have shaken the entire country. People in Ukraine fear for their lives, their families and their future. Every hour, the number of people fleeing this violence increases. Millions of people in and from Ukraine therefore need humanitarian aid. For this reason, we decided this year to donate the entire 10,000 € to Help for projects that benefit Ukrainians.”
The Marbach donation of 10,000 € is divided into two projects: for 5,000 €, 200 Ukrainian refugees in Moldova will be provided with packages of medicine and hygiene items. The remaining 5,000 € will be used to rehabilitate residential properties in the Kiev and Chernihiv oblasts. Rebuilding is also important for Ukraine, as people hope to be able to return home.
Marbach continues: “We quickly decided to donate the entire amount to Ukrainians this year. Throughout the year, the Marbach company and its employees at all European locations collected money and goods to donate for Ukraine in numerous campaigns and have even brought them to Ukraine and border areas with Marbach transporters. In addition, both our employees and we ourselves have provided housing for refugee families and supplied them with all necessities.”
On 21.12.2022 Bianca Kaltschmitt accepted the donation check from Peter Marbach. She thanked us for the generous support: “Help is happy about the fact that we have already received the seventh Christmas donation from Marbach in a row and about the trust in our work. In addition, the German Foreign Office considers this project extra worthy of support and finances it to 80 percent. The Marbach donation flows into our 20 percent own contribution and is thus multiplied fivefold. Who sees the everyday suffering of the Ukrainian civilian population, sees how ‘important this help is.”
