Christmas is first of all a celebration for children. This year, DENIC once again has devoted its Christmas donations to children and families that are facing difficult situations.
With the associations "Hilfe für krebskranke Kinder Frankfurt e.V." that supports children suffering from cancer and their families, and "Arche e.V." that gives socially disadvantaged children perspectives, DENIC promotes initiatives that are located in Frankfurt like the Cooperative itself. "Solidarity with others and commitment to the community are important principles for us, and in particular in the present time. With our Christmas donation we want to support right at DENIC's place of residence those who are particularly dependent on a practiced cooperative spirit – and that is children", says Andreas Musielak of the DENIC Executive Board.
Help for Children Suffering from Cancer
With 1,000 EUR, DENIC supports the work of the Frankfurt association for children (HfkK). More than 30 years ago, families with children suffering from cancer founded the association to help such children and their families. Concrete examples of assistance today are the association’s family center, which offers more than 20 rooms for overnight accommodation, or donations to the children's cancer ward of the University Hospital Frankfurt, which considerably contribute to making everyday life in the clinic easier. The HfkK has employed about 30 professionals, including doctors, sports- and physiotherapists, and invests in activities that make the children forget about hospital routines at least for a short moment. The paediatric stem cell transplantation center linked to the clinic would not exist either without the association’s support. To further improve the chances of cure, in particular for cancer forms that have not yet been investigated in depth, the association also supports research in the affiliated cancer research center and finances the only professorship for paediatric oncology in Germany. DENIC has supported the HfkK since 2019.
Child Initiative "Die Arche"
In the same year, DENIC first gave a donation to the "Die Arche Frankfurt". This year, DENIC employees, too, personally engaged in the sponsoring action. The Christian association, which is active all over Germany, has made it its aim to give children with a difficult financial background a perspective for the future and, in the current situation, mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic through active solidarity. In concrete terms, this is compassionate and understanding family support, regular homework assistance, inspiring leisure and holiday activities and shared hot lunches on the premises of "Die Arche". This year, DENIC engaged in a wish tree campaign and fulfilled concrete children's wishes in the total amount of 1,000 EUR. Individual DENIC employees and teams spontaneously joined the initiative and donated crayons, bead sets or skipping ropes, so that even more wishes could be made come true.
Not Only at Christmas Time
"From the Christmas actions, a relationship has developed that goes beyond the cheque donated in the pre-Christmas season. Also during the year, we think of the Arche children and give donations in kind to them. And now, colleagues have also become involved with their personal commitment", says Heike Schlütter who coordinates DENIC's Arche initiative. Even if DENIC's core field of tasks is the Internet, which, as we know, has hardly any limits, the Cooperative's commitment to children and young adults has a real-world connection to the DENIC location. In addition to the associations listed above, DENIC has sponsored the Frankfurt version of the youth hackathon "Jugend hackt" since 2018. Under the motto "Improve the world with code", the nationwide initiative aims to promote programming skills of young talents and raise awareness for the responsible use of technology.
