Support for exceptional commitment

Werther, 6. October 2022
Poppe + Potthoff supports aid campaigns for Ukraine within the workforce

Probably few people could have imagined a war in the middle of Europe in this day and age – and yet such a war has become a reality this year. In view of the situation in Ukraine, it is important that society shows solidarity with the people affected and helps them to the best of its ability. The Werther-based company Poppe + Potthoff is also moved by the war and wants to help. Especially the voluntary commitment of employees at different locations within the group of companies has left a deep impression there. For this reason, Poppe + Potthoff supports this extraordinary commitment with donations of money and goods.

One example of such commitment is the family of Klaus Schiz, who works at Poppe + Potthoff Präzisionsstahlrohre GmbH in Werther. The Schiz family, who come from Ukraine, has supported more than 100 refugee families since the beginning of the war. They have provided temporary accommodation, relief supplies and arranged for other helpers, or helped with errands to offices to overcome language barriers. But the family even went one step further: for some time now, they have been organising aid convoys on their own. In this way, relatives and friends bring urgently needed relief supplies directly to Ukraine. Various hygiene products such as detergent or soap, but also foodstuffs such as noodles, flour or chocolate for the children are needed on site. “When it comes to food, we are also very often asked for salt,” Klaus Schiz tells us. “That’s why we started sending it out at an early stage, along with other goods or tinned food.”

At other locations of the Poppe + Potthoff Group, too, special commitment can be found within the workforce. When the war broke out in Ukraine, it was clear to Sikos Zsolt at the plant in Ajka, Hungary: he wanted to help. In the past, he had already organised several donation and relief campaigns to support people in emergency situations. So it was no question for him to get involved with the victims of the war. Since the beginning of the war, Sikos Zsolt has been helping to provide the people in the war zones with the necessary relief supplies by organising aid convoys to the embattled areas himself.

As an internationally active group of companies with partners all over the world, Poppe + Potthoff sees the need to take responsibility in such situations. For this reason, it is a matter of course for the company to support the members of the corporate family in such a commitment. Poppe + Potthoff therefore participates in the relief efforts of its employees with donations of 10,000 euros each. The wish is that with this support even more people in Ukraine can be helped quickly and efficiently. In the case of the Schiz family, it was decided that Poppe + Potthoff would participate directly in the aid deliveries with donations in kind. The first deliveries were brought to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in September.