Gütersloh, 01/02/2017

Bertelsmann Donates €25,000 for Seriously Ill Children

In 2016, Bertelsmann has once again made a donation of €25,000 to the "Der Weg nach Hause"  palliative team in Bielefeld. This is the tenth year the company has dispensed with giving Christmas gifts to its business partners in order to support seriously ill children in the region. On 23 December, Thomas Rabe, the Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, presented the check to Dr. Rainer Norden, Chairman of the von Bodelschwinghschen Stiftungen Bethel, Professor Dr. Eckard Hamelmann, chief physician of the Bethel Children's Hospital, and Dr. Stefan Schwalfenberg, senior physician of the "Der Weg nach Hause" project. The initiative enables young patients to be cared for in a familiar environment; currently, the specialized in-home palliative care teams look after approximately 60 children and youths from east Westphalia and beyond.

Thomas Rabe said: "Seriously ill children require competent medical assistance as well as the affection and security of their families. 'Der Weg nach Hause' makes both possible – and, appropriately, we at Bertelsmann feel very good about our commitment to this project. We have supported the initiative with donations amounting to more than €250,000 over the past ten years, and it gives us great pleasure to do so."

Thanks to the financial donations from Bertelsmann, "Der Weg nach Hause" has been able to establish a network of in-home care along with a children's hospital and a children's hospice in the past ten years, which is unique in Germany. Rainer Norden and Eckard Hamelmann and Stefan Schwalfenberg were grateful to receive the donation: "Without Bertelsmann, we would not be where we are today. With the generous support from the company we were able to develop specialized staff at an early point in time and, finally, enter into negotiations with the health insurance companies thanks to the expertise we acquired. They now cover medical and nursing services. Thanks to Bertelsmann, we have done the pioneering work for several similar palliative teams throughout Germany; they were then able to considerably accelerate their official recognition based on our example for the benefit of the families concerned."

Today, many palliative care services are financed through donations, including consulting activities and therapeutic offers with music and animals. Next year, the donation from Bertelsmann will finance the psycho-social accompaniment of families by "Der Weg nach Hause".