Bayer Cares Foundation Provides Support for Fire Victims:

Bayer Donates EUR 150,000 for Emergency Aid and Reconstruction in Greece

Athens/Leverkusen. In view of the devastating forest fires in large areas of Greece , the Bayer Cares Foundation is making available EUR 150,000 for reconstruction measures in the western Peloponnese . Senior Bayer Representative and Managing Director in Greece, Norbert Schmidt-Gollas, today presented the mayors of Ancient Olympia and Oleni with checks for EUR 75,000 each. The funds are to be used to rebuild a health center and a school in these villages.

“Bayer would like to use its donation to support people who have lost everything. We are looking to offer hope for a new start and provide a sustainable example of solidarity and support,” said Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG. “The fires have placed severe restrictions on the lives of the inhabitants in many villages on the Peloponnese,” added Norbert Schmidt-Gollas. “We are helping in Olympia and Oleni so that important communal facilities are up and running again, especially those for children and patients.”

The massive fires in the last few weeks have claimed the lives of over 67 victims and caused damage at an as yet unmeasurable level. According to current estimates, over 180,000 hectares of land, more than a hundred villages and at least 1,500 houses have been destroyed. No employees of Bayer Hellas have been harmed and no damage has been caused to the company’s plants.

Four years ago Bayer Hellas also launched an aid campaign to reforest woodlands on Mont Pentili in Athens that had been destroyed by earlier fires. Every spring Bayer employees plant between 2,000 and 3,000 trees. The costs are borne by the company.

Emergency aid is a key feature of the commitment to charitable causes by the Bayer Cares Foundation, which was established in July this year. The Foundation aims to provide fast and unbureaucratic help to people who find themselves in acute emergencies through natural disasters. Under the motto “Contributing to greater humanity” the Foundation also funds social projects in and around Bayer sites and promotes voluntary involvement by the Group’s employees.

Here you can find the Thank-You-Letter of the mayor