The donation will be divided equally between the ‘Supp_Optimal’ project of the Bürgerstiftung Stuttgart citizens’ association, the Trinkwasserwald e.V. environmental protection association, and the YOU Foundation. The executive board and the works council have also appealed to Porsche staff to donate privately. In its anniversary year, the company has also expanded its range of opportunities for employees to join their colleagues in doing voluntary work.
“Porsche is a part of society and has always had a social responsibility. In our anniversary year we are strengthening our commitment,” says Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG. “As a team, we are providing help where it is urgently needed in order to improve the quality of the lives of the people affected.”
On its ‘Porsche Helps’ intranet platform, the sports car manufacturer informs its employees about suitable voluntary work opportunities. Alongside its anniversary donations, Porsche has added voluntary team actions in Stuttgart to the other ‘Porsche Helps’ options. For example, employees can join Trinkwasserwald e.V. in planting trees and supporting the supply of clean drinking water. With the ‘Supp_Optimal’ team they distribute food to people in need in Stuttgart.
“The ‘Porsche Helps’ initiative is a reflection of our indomitable team spirit,” explains Andreas Haffner, Member of the Executive Board for Human Resources and Social Affairs at Porsche AG. “I’m delighted that we can channel this spirit together for a good cause.”
“Our Porsche culture is also about giving back a part of our success to society,” emphasises Harald Buck, Chairman of the Works Council of Porsche AG. “And we all pitch in together, as a family.”
‘Supp_Optimal’: kitchen for people in need in Stuttgart
‘Food for everyone’ is the motto of the ‘Supp_Optimal’ project, in which Bürgerstiftung Stuttgart coordinates the preparation and distribution of food and warm meals to homeless people in Stuttgart. Porsche has supported the project since 2020. In 2022, a donation in the region of € 600,000 was made to the organisation, enabling around 53,000 meals to be provided to people in need in Stuttgart.
Planting campaign for high-quality groundwater and drinking water
Trinkwasserwald e.V. is committed to environmental education and awareness, and to near-natural silviculture. Since 2017, Porsche and Trinkwasserwald e.V. have collaborated to create a total of 47 hectares of mixed deciduous forest in Leipzig and the Stuttgart region. The conversion of coniferous forests or problematic mixed forests to mixed deciduous forests that are rich in species has enabled Porsche and Trinkwasserwald e.V. to make a sustainable contribution to ensuring high-quality groundwater and drinking water. Every year, more than 100 million litres of drinking water are generated in these forests, enough to provide 100,000 people with drinking water for life.
YOU Foundation: direct aid to earthquake victims
As a result of the earthquake catastrophe in Turkey and Syria, many innocent people are in great need. In February 2023, Porsche donated one million euros in emergency aid to earthquake victims in the two countries. The company’s donation to the YOU Foundation is the next step. The foundation’s mobile education facilities provide social and emotional support to children, youths and their parents, and mediates valuable learning content. Porsche is helping to set up mobile activity centres in Turkish cities that have been severely affected, thus giving children access to education. The children are also learning how to express their feelings through art, theatre and play. Thanks to support from Porsche in Syria, mobile learning kiosks with tablets, laptops and internet access have been set up to offer state-of-the-art education opportunities. These are accompanied by psychological sessions to help children, youths and their parents to process what has happened to them. Support is provided by teachers who are reaching up to 1,300 children.
Further social initiatives to mark ‘75 years of Porsche sports cars’
In its anniversary year, Porsche has expanded its commitment to society. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Porsche donated € 356 for every ace, a total of € 120,000. Similarly, at the European Open in golf, € 75 was donated per birdie for a total of € 120,000. And at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche launched a special fundraising campaign, with € 750 for each lap completed by hybrid prototypes to be donated to the ‘Racing for Charity’ campaign, for a total of € 549,750. Porsche then rounded this amount up to € 911,000. Together with ‘Make-A-Wish’ and the international Porsche companies, Porsche has been making the dreams and wishes of seriously ill children and youths all over the world come true for years. To mark the anniversary, the company is donating € 1,800,000 to make 356 wishes come true in the coming year.
