ZEISS donation campaigns: 34,000 euros go to regional clubs

• The ZEISS segment Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) donates 30,000 euros to the association "Frauen helfen Frauen e.V" in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The association supports women who are in problematic relationships or are victims of domestic violence.
• Employees of the ZEISS Semiconductor Mask Solutions business unit in Jena donate around 4,000 euros to three associations in the Jena region: the local animal shelter in Jena, the Jenaer Tafel (food bank), and the NABU Wild Bird Rescue Jena
• The annual donation campaigns specifically support projects and institutions in the regions and continue the tradition of social commitment at the ZEISS locations.

The ZEISS segment Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) supports the Schwäbisch Gmünd association "Frauen helfen Frauen" with 30,000 euros. The check handover took place at ZEISS in Oberkochen on March 13. The sum is the result of a donation campaign by the SMT Worker’s Council, which has become an annual tradition at ZEISS: each year, more than 7,000 employees at the Oberkochen site are called upon to engage. With the donation, the Gmünd association, which consists of full-time and volunteer staff, can finance its counseling and therapy services.

The house of the association "Frauen helfen Frauen" is a contact and counseling center primarily for women and girls. Here they find protection, counseling, and people who help professionally, specifically for women, confidentially, unbureaucratically, and above all, free of charge. The vast majority of those seeking help come because of experiences of violence and receive counseling and therapy services from the association. Programs for violence prevention and a helpline are also part of the association's services, which rely on donations for their work.

"I am very pleased with the willingness of my colleagues at SMT to donate," says Artur Franzke, Chairman of the Worker’s Council at ZEISS SMT in Oberkochen. "Violence should have no place in our society, and violence prevention is an important issue of our time. The great result of the donation campaign shows that our employees are sensitized to this and care."

Dr. Jens Werner, Head of Human Resources at ZEISS SMT, adds: “The organization ‘Frauen helfen Frauen’ performs extremely important work by providing advisory, preventive, and therapeutic support to women and children affected by domestic violence. Such services are crucial not only to assist those affected in their immediate situation but also to offer long-term perspectives and help them achieve self-reliance. Unfortunately, domestic violence is a widespread societal issue that requires collective responsibility to bring about change. We fully support the remarkable commitment of ‘Frauen helfen Frauen’ and align this with our mission as a company to uphold social responsibility.”

The approximately 450 employees of ZEISS Semiconductor Mask Solutions (SMS) at the Jena site have also donated to charitable organizations in their region. In a collection campaign for the Jena animal shelter, employees donated 1,000 euros. At the Christmas party, donations were also collected for good causes: around 3,000 euros were raised, which were split equally between the Jenaer Tafel (food bank) and the NABU Wild Bird Rescue Jena. "We have shown that social and ecological engagement are important communal tasks. The associations we have benefited deserve every possible support. I am very pleased that our employees support this commitment and that we can contribute to it," says Clemens Neuenhahn, Head of SMS.