Raffle for a good cause, DS Smith employees donate to UNICEF project

Access to education is an important key to a good future for children. This applies worldwide. What is considered a matter of fact in Germany does not hold true in many countries around the globe. Poverty, disease but also a lack of school capacities makes it more difficult for children to have access to school education. In Ivory Coast, UNICEF is now supporting a project where plastic waste is collected and processed into bricks for new classrooms. This improves the lives of the local people on multiple levels. Staff members of the DS Smith Fulda site were so enthusiastic about this idea that they organised and implemented a raffle. The proceeds in the amount of EUR 1,000 have now been handed over to UNICEF.

Plastic waste can be found nearly anywhere in our environment, however, possibilities to recycle this waste do not always exist. In Ivory Coast, a project supported by UNICEF started collecting plastic waste and turning this waste into bricks for new classrooms. By establishing a small recycling market for plastic waste, women can gain money and thus create a better life for themselves and their children. At the same time, the plastic bricks are used to build new classrooms so that more children have the opportunity to attend school.

“Hearing about the project made us sad, but we loved it at the same time,” said Anja Röhrle, Marketing Manager at DS Smith. “The images of children living and playing amidst heaps of plastic waste are shocking. These people are very poor and the improper handling of waste promotes diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. We were thus all the more enthusiastic about the UNICEF project which significantly improves the living conditions of the local people.”

In order to collect money for the project, the Marketing-Team organised a raffle at the DS Smith Fulda site, coordinated by Johanna Ollertz, student intern in the Marketing department. The staff of the site was so enthusiastic that all of the 1,000 tickets were sold.

“We are very happy that our employees were so enthusiastic about the raffle,” said Rüdiger Lindner, General Manager of the DS Smith Fulda site. “This allows us to support a great project and at the same time promote team spirit in the plant.”

The donation was handed over to Wolfgang Schmid of UNICEF's Fulda working group, whose volunteers promote support for UNICEF’s projects in the region. If you want to learn more about the project, please see https://www.unicef.de/informieren/aktuelles/blog/elfenbeinkueste-innovation-plastikmuell-baustein-fuer-zukunft/172554 and a video at www.bit.ly/plastic-bricks   

Caption: Raffle proceeds for a good cause: Rüdiger Lindner, General Manager Fulda plant, Johanna Ollertz, student intern in the Marketing department, Anja Röhrle, Marketing & Communications Manager Germany & Switzerland, all DS Smith, handed over the donation cheque to Wolfgang Schmid, head of UNICEF’s Fulda working group.

Image: DS Smith