One of the beneficiary organizations is Spanish and was chosen by an employee of Vila-real.
Castellón, August 1, 2022 – From donations to support local social projects, to emergency humanitarian aid for crisis areas and donations in kind for charities. The Zschimmer & Schwarz group, whose Spanish subsidiary is located in Castellón, thinks globally and has launched projects to help locally thanks to the proposals of its employees.
Three of them emerged from Castellón and one went ahead. Thanks to the proposal of Elena Mezquita, an employee in Vila-real, a donation will go to Ayúdame 3D, an organization that manufactures 3D-printed prosthetic hands and arms and supplies them free of charge to people with disabilities around the world. Financial aid will be received at the end of the year.
On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the group, in 2019 Zschimmer & Schwarz created a charity program at the initiative of the shareholder families. All workers around the world were invited to propose local initiatives that the company could support with a donation.
In this 2022, this campaign has entered a second round and will be repeated every two years from now. In total, more than 1,500 employees from all national and international locations were invited to present projects in their region that were necessary for them. Among the projects presented this year, seven were selected, which will receive a total of 50,000 euros.
The program launched by the company contributes to various areas aimed at all generations. In Germany, the financing of an Archimedean screw for a children’s playground in Braubach has been approved; the donation so that a residential complex for the elderly can buy a defibrillator in Bendorf; or the expansion of the protected nature trail of the Muldental and Chemnitztal landscape. Thanks to the initiative of an employee, support will be given to a school laboratory at the University of Koblenz-Landau, which aims to excite children and young people with the natural sciences.
In Italy, support will be provided for the treatment of disabled children and young people, especially those from low-income families, at a rehabilitation center in the Italian province of Novara. A residence for the elderly in Livorno Ferraris will receive a new kitchen and dining room.
Social responsibility and sustainability “are part of the DNA of the Zschimmer & Schwarz family business since its foundation”, as expressed by the chemical company. Although the charity campaign supports regional projects at company headquarters every two years, the group always maintains a global focus on those most in need.
This year, the shareholder families have donated 50,000 euros in emergency aid to the German organization Aktionsbündnis Katastrophenhilfe to help Ukraine. In addition, they gave other charities donations in kind addressed to this country for a total of 60,000 euros.
Dietmar Clausen, Chief Financial Officer of Zschimmer & Schwarz, explains that putting people first, mutual respect and care for all, has been at the heart of the group since it was founded in 1894. “Success comes with responsibility, and successful companies have a responsibility to society, something that we will always fulfill,” says Clausen.
Zschimmer & Schwarz shareholder Gisela Rochow is already looking to the future of the donation campaign and says: “No one understands the situation at our locations better than our local employees. They provide us with important information so that we can help people directly and easily.”
Following the success of the first donation campaign in 2019, the company quickly decided that it needed to be repeated at regular intervals. In the year of the company’s first anniversary, 14 projects were selected to receive a total support of 200,000 euros. Among them, the project presented by Rosa Carda, an employee in Vila-real, thanks to which the Castellón Scleroderma Association (ADEC) received 8,000 euros to help those affected by this rare disease.
Zschimmer & Schwarz manufactures and markets specialty chemicals for the ceramics, textiles and fibers, cleaning products, cosmetics and other industrial sectors. The business group is made up of 29 companies in 17 countries on five continents, 22 of which have their own production facilities. Its Spanish subsidiary in Vila-real has a workforce of 57 workers.
