Between July 12 and 19, 2021, heavy rainfall caused considerable problems in western Germany. The district of Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate was particularly hard hit.
In the night from July 14 to 15, 2021, the Ahr valley was hit by a flood catastrophe of almost biblical proportions. Towns, villages and entire regions were massively destroyed by the floods. According to current knowledge, a total of 134 people lost their lives in the floods, and two people are still missing.
Immediately after the full extent of the disaster became clear, Consileon‘s management called on all colleagues to announce initiatives from the affected metropolitan area that urgently needed support. Since quite a number of our employees live near the devastated areas, we received a number of suggestions. It was particularly important to managing partner Dr. Joachim Schü that the aid should reach those in need directly and immediately.
After only a short time, the management of the IT and management consultancy decided to help these two initiatives quickly and unbureaucratically with substantial funds.
Donation to the community foundation of Volksbank RheinAhrEifel
Since there were so many unbelievably affected people, we decided to donate a large part of the sum to the Bürgerstiftung der Volksbank RheinAhrEifel eG hilft Hochwasseropfern (engl.:Volksbank RheinAhrEifel eG Citizens’ Foundation Helps Flood Victims), since it is best to decide on the spot where funds are most urgently needed. The foundation supports “people and non-profit institutions in the regions affected by the flood disaster”.
IFAK – Verein für multikulturelle Kinder- und Jugendhilfe – Migrationsarbeit
(engl.: Association for multicultural child and youth welfare – migration work)
And then there was another project close to the heart of our colleague Horst Schwarz, which he had also supported before the flood. IFAK e. V. – Verein für multikulturelle Kinder- und Jungendhilfe – Migrationsarbeit (Association for multicultural child and youth welfare – migration work) and specifically the multi-generation house in the Dahlhausen district of Bochum. Here, the water caused severe damage to both the building and the inventory, especially in the children’s and youth area. After the summer vacations, the aim was to please the children and young people, who were already suffering from the restrictions of the Corona crisis, with new, appealing offers, such as a foosball table and a billiard table. But that was ruined by the floods. Now IFAK had to dispose of the entire facility. Here, too, we support the reconstruction with a donation that could help immediately.
Flood damage at IFAK
We hope that we were able to contribute at least a little bit to alleviate the suffering of the people in the flooded areas.
