Donations instead of Christmas events Cancellation of Christmas events - instead 10,000 euros for a family in the Ahr valley

The Blumenbecker Group's management has decided to cancel this year's Christmas events due to the current developments around the coronavirus. The money saved in this way will be donated to a young family from the Ahr valley.

Lea, Lucas and their two daughters Leonie (5 years) and Luisa (1.5 years) live 350 metres from the Ahr. The Deißler family had just moved into the house in March of this year after extensive renovation and reconstruction work. But after the night of the flood on 14 July, not much is left. The basement and the ground floor up to the 1st gallery to the upper floor were flooded. Their lovely furnished home was completely destroyed. For days they shovelled out the mud that the Ahr brought with it in its flood.

Hubertus Grote, Head of Industrial Assembly & Service at Blumenbecker Automatisierungstechnik GmbH, became aware of the "Helfer-Shuttle" organisation via Facebook and registered as a volunteer. He used his holiday and made the trip to the Ahr Valley on 9 September. Together with other volunteers, he was assigned to the house of the Deißler family. With hammer drill in hand, he and the volunteers chiselled the plaster from the walls and the screed from the floor.

The Deißler family, like many others, joined the private organisation "5 Euro Haus". Each family has a sponsor who supports the reconstruction, makes appeals for donations and helps organise crafts. Manuela Kröger has taken on the sponsorship for the Deißlers. Hubertus Grote met her during his first visit and the two have stayed in touch since then.

When the cancellation of the Christmas event came up and the question of what to do with the money saved came up, the three managing directors of Blumenbecker Holding were quickly agreed. "The flood in the Ahr valley was several months ago and has almost been forgotten by the media. With our 10,000 euros, which we are donating directly to the Deißler family, we want to help them find a home again in their house," explains Richard Mayer, spokesman for the management.