RAJA Germany donates over 30,000 euros for social purposes
5min read
27/05/2020
Ettlingen, May 2020: Corona is spreading far and wide and causing great planning uncertainty for companies. Investments are stopped, budgets are cut, projects are postponed in order to secure liquidity. Non-profit organisations are also struggling at this time because they are losing the income they use to pay their employees, but above all they are being deprived of the opportunity to continue caring for their protégés to the extent they are used to. This is a circumstance that RAJA unfortunately cannot change. The B2B packaging retailer from Ettlingen is therefore strengthening its social commitment in times when cohesion is even more important than usual.
There has always been a socially committed heart beating in RAJA. Since 2016, RAJA Germany, the German branch of the Raja Group, has been supporting charitable associations in Germany in cooperation with the “RAJA – Danièle Marcovici” foundation.
The action programme “Perspectives for Women” launched by RAJA Germany, which has been running since September 2016, provides targeted support for three projects that focus on women’s rights and education. RAJA donates one euro to the selected organisations for each packaging unit of 11 selected sustainable products sold. RAJA is pleased to be able to transfer 10,300 euros each to Horizont, VbfF and Papatya this April.
Spraying normality in crisis mode
At Horizont e.V. in Munich, which offers mothers and their children temporary accommodation in flats and introduces them to a self-determined life with care services, the money is usually used to finance a family coach. This time the money has come just in time to help with the difficult manoeuvring through the crisis. The aim is not to lay off any employees and, if possible, to manage without short-time work, because many employees of the association are mostly needy themselves and therefore need their salary to live on. Ms Lindemann, office manager at the association, describes the situation like this:
At HORIZONT we all have our work cut out for us, we try to support our therapeutic and school areas as best we can - now mainly virtually - to give our mothers and children as much normality as possible and to structure everyday life for the residents to some extent. Many changes are in the pipeline, some areas are being cut due to the crisis, and we also have to look further ahead in terms of personnel. Thank you for continuing to be there for socially disadvantaged people despite the crisis situation, that's just great!
The VbFF in Frankfurt is using the money donated by RAJA to upgrade its IT structure, specifically to purchase hardware and software for the creation of digital training courses, but also for laptops so that course participants who cannot afford one themselves can still be offered a digital training programme. Ms Einecke, Executive Director at VbFF, points out that: “our target group is excluded from digital solution alternatives in times of crisis and needs special support.”
Border closures can also have something good. The acute danger of being trafficked and forced into marriage is lower than usual at the moment. But the summer holidays are still to come… With PAPATYA in Berlin, RAJA supports an anonymous crisis facility that offers protection to girls and women who are threatened with death or abduction and forced marriage at home. For many girls, it is not an easy step to separate from their family, but it is often the only one that allows them to live in freedom. RAJA’s donation goes to the online counselling service “SIBEL”(www.sibel-papataya.org), through which women and girls can receive anonymous support.
Locally active
But RAJA is also active beyond that – locally. RAJA regularly supports the Ettlingen Women’s and Family Association (effeff), the Karlsruhe Women’s Shelter and the Day Meeting Centre for Women in Karlsruhe (TafF). Of course, these also have changed requirements during Corona: Closing down, providing care at a distance or continuing to provide for those in need. RAJA is able to help the TafF by donating packaging for warm meals, thus enabling free delivery by chef Kevin Wilde from the Nagls Kranz restaurant in Karlsruhe. This cooperation was organised by the KSC fan club. The homeless in KA are now once again happy about a warm meal a day.
And when one of RAJA’s employees, Lisa Deckert-Neukirchen, founded the Gabentisch in Rheinstetten, RAJA organised an internal donation week to support this good cause.
RAJA continues to be involved, as the action programme “Perspectives for Women” and the help on the ground continue. With all the current developments, RAJA never loses sight of another important issue: environmental protection and continues to work on reducing its own footprint during Covid-19. The fact that 86% of the products are produced in Europe not only benefits the carbon footprint, but also all the companies that depended on the reliable supply of packaging and shipping materials during Corona.
The customer advisors on the phone or the RAJA webshop help to make the right choice. Sonia Fiala, Head of Digital Marketing, presents the latter in an interview on expertentesten.de.
