Employees get involved in community-based causes

Corporate social responsibility is firmly enshrined in CHG-MERIDIAN's corporate philosophy. When it comes to supporting community-based projects, we want to encourage our employees to get involved with their own ideas and personal commitment. The CARE initiative was created with this ambition in mind. Employees can initiate projects that they deem particularly worthy of support and provide input to the company's efforts.

Employees in the Communications and Marketing department in Weingarten organized an event that showcased their baking skills. At the end of November, they all stayed up late to bake cookies to sell to their colleagues. The proceeds – with an extra €500 from the company – were donated to Kinderstiftung Ravensburg, a charitable foundation that cares for socially disadvantaged children.

Over the course of 2017, four other projects were run that had a particular focus on team spirit. In January, a team challenge in Mexico saw CHG-MERIDIAN employees build bicycles from parts and donate them to disadvantaged children from a local primary school. In June, 25 fitness-obsessed employees used their lunch hour to take part in the CHG-MERIDIAN Lunchtime Bootcamp. Over the course of the project, the cafeteria provided a special fitness menu every day. As a reward for all this exertion, the company made a generous donation to the Radio 7 Drachenkinder charitable initiative.

At our Düsseldorf office, the CARE project was based on the Tour de France, which in 2017 had started from the city. CHG-MERIDIAN joined forces with cycling specialists CANYON to provide cycling simulators – known as Zwift Bikes – where employees and visitors were able to virtually cycle along some of the stages of the famous sporting event. The beneficiary of the 'mileage allowance' that CHG-MERIDIAN generated was the Rheinische Bürgerstiftung foundation. The amount donated by CANYON and CHG-MERIDIAN came to around €10,000. And in October, five employees took part in the Munich half-marathon. Thanks to their endurance, the KlinikClowns charity in Freising received a donation from CHG-MERIDIAN at the end of the race.

The CARE activities initiated by CHG-MERIDIAN's employees not only benefited the recipients of the donations and the people supported by these organizations. The teams involved in the activities also felt a benefit for themselves, as their joint efforts for a good cause had a positive effect on team spirit and their working relationships.