Fulfilling the last wishes of terminally ill people; successfully integrating lonely people over the age of 60 back into society; offering needy people a warm meal several times a week – all these are examples of what FUCHS considers sustainable action. The company takes on social responsibility in many ways, including through its annual FUCHS Sponsorship Award.
In addition to corporate responsibility, social responsibility has long been a high priority at FUCHS – not only at their headquarters in Mannheim, but also all over the world. More than half of FUCHS’s subsidiaries are currently involved in a range of social projects focusing primarily on improving education and health and fighting poverty. Around 100 scientific, cultural and social projects are also supported. Activities range from donations and sponsorship to voluntary work performed by employees. FUCHS India, for example, makes annual donations to the ISKON Food Relief Foundation, which distributes 1.2 million meals a day to schools in seven Indian states. FUCHS China supports the “Sports for All” program, which provides free exercise programs for 8,000 children each week; FUCHS France supports CESAP, an aid organization for children with multiple disabilities, while FUCHS USA supports, among other things, the literacy initiative for “Toys for Tots.”
20 years of the FUCHS Sponsorship Award
One of the company’s most important social initiatives is the FUCHS Sponsorship Award, which was launched to support charitable projects in the company’s hometown of Mannheim. It focuses primarily on projects designed to help children, the elderly, people with physical or mental disabilities and people with a migrant background.
On October 25, FUCHS celebrated the 20th anniversary of the award together with the prizewinners. “Since 2000, we have presented the award to more than 150 initiatives. This demonstrates the solidarity we enjoy with our hometown and the people who live here and engage with their local community. The projects also underline the multifaceted nature of community involvement,” said Tina Vogel, Head of PR & Marketing. The people of Mannheim are very active in their local community – and with this award, FUCHS is committed to ensuring that this remains the case in the future. “The FUCHS Sponsorship Award is our way of honoring socially engaged citizens who have, quietly and without fanfare, dedicated so much of their time to voluntary work,” said Stefan Fuchs, CEO of FUCHS PETROLUB SE.
Additional prizes for innovation and sustainability
This year, and for the first time in the history of the award, prizes were also awarded for “Innovation” and “Sustainability” – two dimensions that are important to FUCHS not only in terms of social commitment: “When we support charitable projects, we want to focus on those that help people not only tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We want to see a long-term impact, which is why we focus primarily on initiatives that achieve just that – and break new, innovative ground in the process,” said Stefan Fuchs.
The “Innovation” prize went to the Mannheim Workers’ Welfare Association (AWO), which issues a Mannheim Tenant Driving License that helps migrants to improve their chances of finding accommodation and thus also improves their ability to integrate. “Since we want to keep the course system for the Mannheim Tenant Driving License free of charge for those taking part, it is essential to obtain financing through such funds,” said Alexander Manz, who accepted the prize on behalf of the Mannheim AWO.
The award for the sustainability project of the year went to the “Mannheimer Platte,” which, for more than 20 years, has provided needy people with hot meals several times a week as well as a place to gather, chat and feel part of a wider community. “We are delighted to have received the Sustainability Award. We will use the money to buy food and drinks for our guests,” said Sabine Ewald, the second chairwoman of the “Mannheimer Platte” association.
Stefan Fuchs and Alexander Manz, who accepted the award on behalf of the AWO Kreisverband Mannheim.
Stefan Fuchs and Sabine Ewald, second chairwoman of the association “Mannheimer Platte”, who received the award “Project of the Year – Sustainability”.
A tradition of commitment
FUCHS’s commitment to social issues goes back many years. Back in the 1990s, the company launched the “Oil cans help” campaign to forward publicly collected donations to charitable organizations that help people in difficult situations. Since then, the company’s social commitment has grown steadily in line with its international growth. The FUCHS Sponsorship Award in its hometown of Mannheim acts as a beacon and inspiration for the company’s worldwide corporate citizenship.
