An initiative in Göttingen encouraged restaurants to help the needy by donating food from their cold storage rooms.
Promotion of culture and education
Assistance fund in the time of coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has posed financial and personal difficulties for people in all areas of life. The AKB Foundation has initiated an assistance fund. Four projects showcase the diverse ways in which it provides support.
Studying with children
Students with children not only have to adopt digital and hybrid learning formats during the coronavirus pandemic, but also look after their kids. With the help of the AKB Foundation, the Georg August University in Göttingen launched the program “Catch Up, Make Up, Keep Up” in the 2020/2021 Winter Semester. It helps student parents continue their studies and avoid a situation where they are left behind or drop out. They are provided with hours of free childcare so that they can study and work. The program is coordinated by the university’s Family Service; quality care staff is arranged by the daycare association Kindertagespflege Göttingen e. V. |
Meals for the needy
The organization Neue Wege Neue Chancen gGmbH helps people in Southern Lower Saxony who rely on assistance from others or are in financial need. The Göttingen chefs Peter Goldmann and Vincenzo Luggeri have teamed up with it as part of an initiative. They donated left-over food from their restaurants Havanna and Little Italy. Goldmann’s appeal “Empty your cold storage rooms” was also taken up by the restaurant Villa Cuba, the Burghotel Hardenberg, the Deutsches Theater Bistro and the grocery store Fruchthaus Schwieger. The stocks were used to cook hundreds of meals, which were delivered free by Neue Wege Neue Chancen. And when the stocks had been used up, the cooking continued – thanks to financial aid from the AKB Foundation. |
Street concerts
The event industry drew attention to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for cultural offerings and concerts with the Germany-wide campaign “Night of Light” in June 2020. In Einbeck, Heldenburg castle in Salzderhelden and the Goetheschule high school were illuminated in resplendent red. The idea behind the “Night of Light” was taken up by the association StadtpARTie Einbeck with its “Red Alert “campaign, which aimed to highlight the plight faced by artists – with ten street concerts on ten Saturdays in the middle of Einbeck. It plans to repeat the campaign in the summer of 2021. The funding from the AKB Foundation meant that the artists were able to be paid a fee in addition to receiving voluntary donations. |
Literature podcast
Authors hardly have a chance to present their works during the coronavirus lockdown. That is why text & töne e. V. LitCast Southern Lower Saxony are planning a literary podcast with authors from the region. It has a two-fold goal: The project by the author Sabine Göttel from Hanover supports its initiator and her dialogue partners in the coronavirus crisis by providing them with a virtual stage. Second, the podcast demonstrates the diversity of the regional literary scene and makes some names known to a wider audience for the first time. The project thus aims to remain relevant and make an impact after the pandemic is over. Once the podcast is ready, it will be able to be listened to free of charge on common platforms. |
Information
The AKB Foundation
The AKB Foundation was established in 1998 by Carl-Ernst Büchting (1915– 2010), the long-standing Chairman of the Executive Board and later of the Supervisory Board at KWS. Its work centers on the Southern Lower Saxony region, specifically Einbeck, and on Klein Wanzleben (Saxony-Anhalt), the place where KWS was founded. The foundation’s values are steeped in the concepts of sustainability, humanity and future viability. The foundation promotes charitable goals and offers funding in five categories: “the church, Christian faith and ecumenism,” “art and culture,” “education and social welfare,” “science and research,” and “protection of the environment, countryside and nature.” More information: www.akb-stiftung.de |
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