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founded in 2005, sets its focus on supporting socially disadvantaged persons, mainly children and young people. Founder and Chairman Friedrich Neubrand’s mission is to facilitate access to education and to help provide for long-term and sustainable development with a better perspective for the future.
The non-profit association is active in all the 16 countries where the GrECo Group is represented with its own subsidiaries. We work closely together with the local teams when selecting projects.
Donations shall reach the needy young people to the full extent that is why projects are reviewed in detail and chosen with great care. Thus the GrECo Foundation supports a number of different projects for education and culture, provides immediate aid in case of catastrophes, such as floods, and other emergencies. In many cases, these projects are guided by our dedicated employees, including the participation in sports events, attending lessons in schools, accompanying vacation days in Vienna, and generally by visiting the various facilities.
In 1991 SOS Children’s Village began to offer family based care in Lithuania. More than 100 children and youth have found a new family at SOS. Additionally the organization takes care of 600 families at risk and their 900 children. 89% of the children are safely returned to their strengthened families.
We are happy to support the current construction projects in the Tyrol. These new houses helps with the implementation of a versatile, professional pedagogical concept that is in accordance with the requirements of child and youth care. The disadvantaged young people should be able to grow up in a sage, stable and loving home.
Homework and studying for tests and exams are in the daily agenda for all pupils now that school started again. Sometimes children need help with this tasks, but not all parents have the opportunity to do this, in most cases this is due to language problems. In Austria, there is a large number of kids whose mother tongue is not German in the classrooms.
Caritas Lerncafé is an organization who meets the children's (aged 7-15) needs perfectly, not only by providing help with the studies, but also supporting the parents in school issues. Getting on in school is the basis for a professional future, which is exactly what the GrECo Foundation wants to help with.
Caritas offers workshops to young people in Kiev to learn different crafts such as shoemaker, sewing, carpentry, hairdressing and design. The facility includes a crisis centre for children and adolescents, housing, job training and afternoon care for school children.
For almost ten years the Wiener Lerntafel has been looking after children and young people from socially disadvantaged families. They provide free learning and tutoring to provide a better future for the young people. Tutors work with the children individually to address the needs and offer the best support.
… in the latest edition of the “Caritas Lerncafé” student’s paper.
Children attending the afternoon tuition at the Caritas Lerncafé spent most of the last school year on gathering material for their annual students’ paper. We were happy to accompany them for parts of the way, visiting one of the Lerncafé in Vienna and hosting a small event @ the GrECo Center.
GrECo Foundation was happy to take over the printing costs – congratulations to all the kids for creating a great magazine!
The organization SOS Children’s Village are building a new house for youngsters in Seekirchen (Salzburg). The two-storey building, a solid wood construction, will provide a home for 6 to 8 children and young people as well as 3 small apartments for flexible use in crisis situations. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the spring 2019.
The GrECo Foundation contributes 10 learning stations, including tables, chairs, shelves and learning material to support the children’s development.
Students of the Cluj-Napoca University in Romania approached our local team to support their initiative to participate in the 15th Seismic Design Competition in Los Angeles, California. The Contest is organized annually by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute as part of their annual conference. The institute is dedicated to reducing earthquake risk by research in the area of earthquake engineering, impact of earthquakes and realistic measures to limit the effects of earthquakes.
The team of students created a balsa wood model, which was tested on a seismic platform and subjected to various earth quake simulations. The GrECo Foundation was happy to cover the cost (CNC cutting, base plates, balsa wood, glue etc.) to provide the required material for the production of the model.
The students were rewarded with the 3rd place in the competition – congratulations on the successful completion of the project!
The children of the first grade of a Vienna middle school were enthusiastic about their class trip to Mamuz Castle this spring.
The programme included learning about survival practices and traditions of the Stone Age, javelin, making fire, bread and pottery, all of which the kids enjoyed tremendously.
Warm summer temperature, refreshing drinks, snacks and the live stream of the football World Cup as well as the GrECo Centre terrace were the lovely setting for our traditional GrECo Foundation Bar.
Thank you to all our colleagues who again made generous donations.
The proceeds go to the Caritas Haus Immanuel to support recreational activities for all the youngsters during the summer holidays.
"Haus Immanuel" in Vienna's 20th district is run by the Caritas and gives homes to single mothers and their children. The women and their children, who have suffered all sorts of crises and distress find shelter for up to 2 years and support and care by a dedicated team of social workers.
We were happy to invited the children to an outing to the Wiener Eislaufverein, one of the oldest and largest ice rinks. As we can see from the pictures, they had a lot of fun!
Thomas Adrian and his team of social workers and educators offer shelter and care for the night and counselling to young people in need, until a long-term solution is found.
This year the shelter moved to new, larger premises to provide help for more youngsters.
The GrECo Foundation donated an industrial washing machine.
In 2009 the organization Caritas started the initiative Le+O – food and orientation in cooperation with Catholic parishes and has since provided people and families on the edge of poverty with food and individual consultation and orientation.
Food collected from supermarkets is distributed to participating parishes, where it is handed out by volunteers.
In the summer we followed a request for donations and provided the missing amount for the purchase of a new distribution truck.
The GrECo Foundation is proud of the long-standing cooperation with the Franciscan relief organization Franz Hilf! who organizes annual charity concerts to raise funds for projects in Central and Eastern Europe.
This year’s proceeds went to the Children’s Home in Vares, Bosnia. The Franciscan nuns a children’s home for 23 children aged 6 to 19 years. They are taking care of the children and offering various therapies and creative workshops to the children that still are traumatized by the effects of the Bosnian war.
In the summer we invite our colleagues in Vienna to an informal get together on the GrECo Centre terrace.
Our dedicated team of volunteers organize snacks and drinks to collect donations for various smaller charity projects.
In June 2017, the proceeds went to our Austrian Special Olympics athletes.
Each year before Christmas the GrECo Foundation serves mulled wine and ginger bread on the GrECo Centre terrace.
Our employees donate generously and thus support needy young people in Vienna’s 19th, district.
Foundation Chairman Friedrich Neubrand presented the symbolic cheque to district head Adolf Tiller, who coordinates the distribution of the funds.
The Crisis Centre in Piaski offers abused children shelter for up to three months and provides psychological consultation and medical treatment with the help of the Catholic order of Barmherzige Brueder.
The coming months will see the extensive renovation and refurbishing of the building, which we are happy to support.
Teachers at the Elin Pelin School are aware of the significance of modern media in the fast changing professional world.
Thus, education is focused on practice and future orientation.
The current school year concentrates on the digitalization in the learning environment, utilising interactive projectors to create creative and interactive classrooms.
We were able to give the school six laptops.
Our Bulgarian colleagues organised a road safety event for pupils of the Elin Pelin school in cooperation with the chemical producer Solvay Bulgaria.
The event focused on the proper use of seat belts, to support the message, everybody received a T-shirt.
The Association Auro Danubia set up an orphanage in Saniob, Romania under the auspices of the Benedictine Monastery of Melk Abbey.
Homeless children receive shelter and the care and protection that is so vital for their development and upbringing that has been missing so far.
The orphanage was in urgent need of renovation and we are pleased to have contributed to the installation of a new pipe system and sanitation facilities.
Over the past years, the GrECo Foundation has supported various youth projects for the students of the ZPC Zwi Perez Chajes School.
In 2018, the JCV – Jewish Centre Vienna, will be renovated and we are glad to have been able to also make a small contribution to the restauration of the facilities.