Bayer volunteers keep goodwill afloat in local towns

Bayer’s volunteering ventures have helped save Vietnamese chidren

In 2017, six projects funded by the Bayer Cares Foundation were implemented by local employees. These projects included improving education and recreation for children in remote areas; educational and psychological assistance for cancer patients and their relatives; water safety and first aid classes; recycling and composting programmes in Ho Chi Minh City; building wells in ethnic minority areas; and programmes for underprivileged children in southern Vietnam.

The “Saving children’s lives across the river and educating children to prevent drowning” project is one of the Bayer Volunteering Programme’s successful activities. Its €2,500 ($3,000) in funding went toward unique initiatives like life jacket school bags.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Vice Chairwoman of the Son Phu Hamlet People’s Committee in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, expressed her appreciation of the water safety programme, “Life jacket school bags are convenient for students to bring to school, which brings many benefits to children in their daily lives. We will try to find more funding as well as support from stakeholders to spread this idea to other remote areas.”

For many Bayer employees, the mission “Bayer: Science for a Better Life” does not end when they leave the workplace. They continue their work as volunteers to improve living conditions near the company’s sites everywhere in the world.

“It’s fantastic that so many employees are using their professional expertise and experiences to volunteer at projects in the areas where we work,” said Kemal Malik, a member of Bayer AG’s Board of Management, and on the Executive Committee of the Bayer Cares Foundation.

“They often make use of the power of innovation to bring about change and overcome the challenges that society is facing,” Malik added.

Kohei Sakata, Bayer Vietnam’s managing director, said, “We appreciate all employees who support this programme, especially those who submitted projects and got financial support from the Bayer Cares Foundation. The passion and volunteerism of our Bayer Vietnam colleagues not only shows their goodwill to the community but also an awareness and responsibility for contributing to a better and more sustainable society, in line with our Bayer mission.”

The Bayer Volunteering Programme focuses on promoting healthcare, nutrition, and scientific education. Since the programme was launched in Germany in 2007 and deployed globally in 2013, there have been 508 volunteer projects in 66 different countries funded by the Bayer Cares Foundation, with total funding of €1.76 million ($2.12 million).

Bayer Vietnam has participated in the programme since 2013. Each year, two to four projects are chosen to receive funding from the Bayer Cares Foundation. This year, six more projects are projected to be funded and implemented in Vietnam.