Gütersloh, 12/13/2017

Bertelsmann Donates €25,000 for Critically Ill Children

Bertelsmann has once again dispensed with giving Christmas gifts to its business partners, and is instead donating €25,000 for critically ill children in the region. Yesterday at the Corporate Center, Thomas Rabe presented the check to representatives of the Bielefeld-based palliative team “Der Weg nach Hause” (The Way Home), as well as the von Bodelschwinghschen Stiftungen Bethel children's hospice.

“This is the eleventh time Bertelsmann is supporting the ‘Der Weg nach Hause' initiative with a Christmas donation,” says Thomas Rabe. “It shows how much we value the great work done by the entire Bethel team – I visited there myself this year. It is particularly important to us that we support the project long term rather than with a one-time donation.”

Funding Psychosocial Support for Affected Families

Rainer Norden and his colleagues thanked Thomas Rabe for the donation: “In the past few years, we have established a unique nationwide network of outpatient care, children's hospitals, and children's hospices. Without the generous support of Bertelsmann, this would never have been possible. It has already enabled us to grow our treatment team and gives us planning security. Our sincere thanks goes out to the company.”

Next year, among other things, the Bertelsmann donation will specifically finance psychosocial support for affected families through “Der Weg nach Hause.” According to the palliative team, they are currently supporting 78 families from all over the East-Westphalian-Lippe region and beyond. And the demand remains high, says Stefan Schwalfenberg, who brought along a gift for Bertelsmann and for Thomas Rabe, who, as in previous years, personally matched the Group’s contribution in a private donation made with his wife: Dean (5), Maria (19) and Philipp (17), together with their teachers, had decorated a small canvas with handprints, wooden letters, and tiles bearing words – including a “thank you” tile addressed to Bertelsmann, as well as several terms that are especially important to the children or teens in their life, such as “courage” and “happiness.”