Wintershall Dea Foundation offers help for victims of war: Winter Aid for Ukraine

• Foundation donates 1.66 million euros to support relief efforts
• Donations are allocated to action medeor, the humanitarian aid organisation “Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe” and the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), to provide aid during the winter amidst the ongoing war
• Wintershall Dea Foundation also supports local initiatives in Hamburg and Kassel that assist Ukrainian refugees

Kassel/Hamburg. The Wintershall Dea Foundation for Democracy and Diversity is donating a further 1.66 million euros to organisations supporting people in Ukraine during the winter. The donation aims to provide urgently needed relief supplies and support refugees from Ukraine in Germany. In recent weeks, the Russian army has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine, also repeatedly targeting civilian targets and, in particular, the energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian civilian population is especially affected during the winter. 

“The people there need our solidarity and specific help now during the cold winter months: warm water, electricity supply, but also food and medicine. The organisations we have chosen are doing great and varied work for Ukrainians,” says Michael Sasse, Wintershall Dea Foundation board member.

A significant portion of the funds is being allocated to action medeor e.V., the largest medical aid organisation in Europe. The Wintershall Dea Foundation previously provided emergency financial aid for medical care in the war zone in Ukraine through action medeor in March 2022. In that year alone, the organisation sent more than 540 tons of medical supplies to hospitals throughout Ukraine, including deliveries of antibiotics, infusion solutions and medical equipment. The Wintershall Dea Foundation is currently supporting action medeor with 400,000 euros for the construction of a medical care center in the district of Mykolayiv and for winter aid programmes in southern Ukraine.

Direct assistance on the ground is similarly provided by the humanitarian aid organisation “Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe”, which will also receive 400,000 euros from the Wintershall Dea Foundation. The organisation delivers humanitarian aid to displaced persons and the population affected by the war, especially in eastern Ukraine. For the winter months, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe steps up its ongoing support with its winter aid by distributing blankets, winter clothing, heating materials and electric heaters to the Ukrainian population through partner organisations.

Additional financial support is being awarded to the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW): the civil defence and disaster control organisation provides technical assistance in Germany and abroad and is involved in the training and further education of technical personnel on site. In a THW youth project with the Ukrainian association "Shkola Bezpeky" (School of Security), youth leaders from Ukraine are taught methodological and didactic skills in technical training and civil defence, which they are to apply and share in the war zone. The participants also learn how to administer first aid and search for people trapped in rubble. The Wintershall Dea Foundation supports with 150,000 euros the purchase of MedicPacks with tools and materials for civil defence and civil protection that are handed out during the training.

To supply Ukrainian refugees in Germany with food, the Wintershall Dea Foundation backs the work of food banks with a total of 300,000 euros. This sum is distributed at federal level and at Wintershall Dea's German sites in Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Hesse. Furthermore, the Wintershall Dea Foundation will provide 400,000 euros to support other projects benefiting Ukrainian refugees in Hamburg and Kassel, where Wintershall Dea has its headquarters. “We are pleased that we can help alleviate people’s suffering to some extent through our support for the various organisations,” says Michael Sasse.

Note on our own behalf: Michael Sasse will be leaving the Wintershall Dea Foundation as of 31 January 2024 as a member of the Board of Trustees. Friederike Steensen has been appointed as his successor as of February 1, 2024.

UPDATE (3 April 2024)

UNICEF also receives support: the United Nations Children's Fund provides children and their families in Ukraine and neighbouring countries with clean drinking water, winter clothing and medicines, ensures safe contact points behind the borders and supports the training of teachers and carers in psychosocial issues. At the same time, UNICEF ensures that schools and kindergartens damaged by the war are repaired so that the girls and boys can continue to learn. The Wintershall Dea Foundation supports this long-term commitment with a donation of 300,000 euros.

The Wintershall Dea Foundation for Democracy and Diversity has thus provided a total of 1.9 million euros in donations in 2024 as winter aid for the people in Ukraine affected by the Russian war of aggression.

_{About the Wintershall Dea Foundation for Democracy and Diversity}

_{The aim of the non-profit Wintershall Dea Foundation for Democracy and Diversity is to promote science and research, education, art, culture and international understanding in order to protect shared democratic values such as equality, justice, respect and tolerance. The Foundation supports projects, organisations and events that campaign for diversity, integration and international understanding, and strengthen democracy. Associations, universities, educational establishments and institutions that are dedicated to this goal can receive funding.}

_{www.wintershalldea.com/stiftung 
Contact: stiftung@wintershalldea.com}