![](./pubData/source/images/pages/page109.jpg)
GGroup Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 105
prevent suffering before it happens. The ALTANA Group’s
2021 digital Christmas card included an appeal for donations
for the aid alliance’s disaster prevention efforts. Recipients
of the card had the opportunity to donate to the preparedness
projects via a donation link on the card, thus increas-
ing the total amount donated.
Social Commitment and Other Donations
In 2021, the coronavirus pandemic again had an impact on
ELANTAS Beck India’s social commitment endeavors. The
company supports projects that focus on education, health,
and hygiene, and did so even before 2014, when companies
in India were legally obligated to assume responsibility
for society. In the year under review, the country was
severely affected by the pandemic – especially in April and
May – and ELANTAS Beck India was again faced with the
difficult task of deciding which of the many coronavirus aid
projects the company
could support. It opted for two broad-
based emergency and disaster funds as well as the support
of a hospital in Pune, which made its entire capacity of 110
beds available for treating people suffering from COVID-19.
Despite pandemic-related interruptions, many educational
programs in India could be offered online. As part of its
commitment to sustainability, ELANTAS Beck India again supported
an educational project of the organization Surajya
Sarvangin Vikas Prakalp. In the project, a total of 546 students
from eight slums near Pune are taught. The girls and boys
from grades one to ten are cared for in the organization’s
after-school facilities. Through its in-school and after-school
programs, the initiative fosters the children’s desire to learn,
provides orientation, and shows them the importance of
education.
ELANTAS PDG in St. Louis, U.S., has also supported local
social projects for many years and at the same time reinforced
its employees’ personal commitment to sustainability.
The staff actively supports people who live in the neighborhood
of the site and has been doing so for more than 15
years in some projects. Among the most important aid
projects are the social initiatives Back to School Supplies and
Annual Holiday Drive, which are coordinated by dedicated
employees at ELANTAS PDG. For the Back to School Supplies
initiative, the project coordinator collected funds from employees
again in 2021, which were used to buy school supplies
such as notebooks and pencils for needy children
attending the nearby Nance Elementary School. Similarly, the
organizers of the Annual Holiday Drive initiative once again
used the money donated by colleagues to assist ten needy
families and help them have a nice Christmas by giving
them gifts such as shoes, toys, and clothing, as well as a basket
of food.
In the year under review, ALTANA donated 5,000 euros
to the sponsoring organization of the Parizat Nestling
Home (PNH) in Kathmandu, which provides a safe home for
girls of parents who are in prison or very poor. The facility
accommodates around 50 girls between the ages of four and
16 who would otherwise have had to spend their lives on
the streets. The Parizat Nestling Home provides the minors
with a comprehensive school education and medical care
and teaches the girls practical skills, such as sewing. The goal
is to fully reintegrate the stigmatized children into Nepalese
society. The donation was used to purchase additional computers
for the facility so that the girls can be even better
trained in the use of IT technology, especially in times of homeschooling
during the coronavirus pandemic. In the past,
ALTANA had already assisted the PNH, supporting the installation
and expansion of a solar plant.
In August, the BYK division at the Wesel site donated
13,000 euros to the local Marien-Hospital for the procurement
of an emergency simulation manikin. The manikin is
used by nursing staff, medical personnel, and therapists