The globalized world is becoming more and more complex. Our approach to this is: Think global, help local. Every Henkel group site has to face different social problems that occur in the local community or region, be it, for example, a lack of childcare facilities, bad living conditions of older people, racist activities among young people or exclusion of people with disabilities.

These are some project examples from all over the world:

In the Gerda Henkel Children´s Day Care Center in Düsseldorf (Germany) children between four months and ten years of age can be cared for all day. It is run by Arbeiterwohlfahrt Familienglobus GmbH and financially supported by Henkel via MIT. Two of the latest donations of Henkel to the Day Care Center are a four-meter long wooden aircraft, and a see-saw, both enthusiastically welcomed by the children.

Henkel has clearly underlined its opposition to discrimination and prejudice by launching two poster campaigns. The core statements were "Who is a foreigner in a global company? No one!" and "What makes a global company successful? Employees from all over the world!” More than 60 large-format posters were displayed at all of the German sites and in Vienna and met with a very positive response both inside and outside the Company. For the trainees in Düsseldorf, the campaign was supplemented by a series of four dialogues with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The topic was: "Right-wing extremism - a temporary danger or a threat to democracy?" More than 300 young people researched the background to current problems and debated with well-known political figures on questions regarding social integration and ways of overcoming negative attitudes.

Employees of Henkel in the United States took on the challenge to organize various fundraising events in order to purchase new outdoor play equipment for Providence House, a residential crisis nursery located in Cleveland, Ohio. The organization provides round-the-clock crisis intervention for babies and children in at-risk situations such as imminent danger of abuse or neglect. Providence House was in direct need of new toys for the children. The new equipment, worth a total of 10,500 €, allows the children to develop motor skills, learn to interact with others, and enjoy the advantages of being outdoors and exercising – and to have fun. As for the employees participating in the fundraising activities, they  experienced a great satisfaction from working as a team to help children in their community.

Henkel in the Andean Region of South America financially and otherwise supports various foundations that care for those children whose parents do not have the means to send their children to school or even to feed them adequately. In Lima, Peru, a Day Care Center (Centro de Atención Externa) for extremely poor and high-risk children is being built and equipped in cooperation with the foundation COPRODELI. Spending their days on the street, the children from extremely poor families are in high-risk of drug addiction, crime, violence and diseases. At the Day Care Center they receive shelter, food, medicine, clothing, and, important above all, attention and education. Other similar centers are being supported as MIT projects, one, for example, in Bogotá, Columbia, organized by the Fundación Marcelino Pan y Vino.

The region of Anantapur in India is characterized by extreme and continuous aridity and poverty. Many inhabitants, mainly so-called untouchables, are forced to live in poor huts and minimum sanitary conditions. Therefore employees of Henkel Ibérica (Spain) participated in the challenge of climbing a mountain in Granada, Spain, to collect money for a social house-building project of the Fundación Vicente Ferrer. The collected money goes into the construction of a 15-house colony in the village of Venkatampalli. The possession of a decent home is an essential requirement for the most vulnerable social sector in India to achieve its economic development and social integration, in a society that still considers dalits or untouchables a marginalized case.

As a part of the MIT Children´s Project, Henkel Korea has opened the “Henkel Psychotherapy Room for Abused Children” at the “Exciting Group Home” - a temporary home for children who are mistreated by their parents or family - which is run by Save the Children Korea. The Group Home was unable to provide proper therapies for the children in the past allthough psychological treatment on a regular basis is of prime importance for children who have experienced ill-treatment. With the help of Henkel, about 120 children will now be treated annually at the Group Home. Furthermore, Henkel Korea employees visit the Group Home once a month to do volunteer work. They help cleaning the house, provide tutoring, cook meals and, in general, play the role of “one-day parents” in order to establish a close relationship with the maltreated children.

More than 300 children live in the Awladi Children’s Home in Maadi near Cairo. The complex comprises several residential blocks, nurseries, a school and playground, farm buildings, agricultural land and stores, all of which are managed by volunteers. Henkel employee Khaled Tawakol has deployed his expertise in order to help the children’s home in a special project: the marketing of products from the teaching bakery in which the young occupants of the orphanage learn the baking trade. Khaled Tawakol also helped to obtain the necessary financial support for constructing a new baby wing, with Henkel as one of the donors: “We have been able to accept more than 150 new-born babies. The first babies that came to us are already of kindergarten age.” Now he is involved in another building project. “We need a house for the young women who have grown up with us but are not yet married. We want to give them an environment in which they can stand on their own two feet.”

The “SandCastles Grief Support Program” in Detroit, Michigan, is a refuge for children and youngsters who have to cope with the loss of a family member or friend. Since the program was established eight years ago, more than 1100 children have been able to participate in it free of charge. During his free time, Jason Tylenda, an employee at Henkel Technologies in Madison Heights, works as one of the team of carers. He looks after the 10 to 13 year olds and has undergone special training for the task. Jason meets “his” kids twice a week. “Just support” he says in describing what SandCastles is all about. “Many paint or write in order to ease their troubled soul, while others get it off their chests in the 'Volcano Room'. There they can pound away at punch balls, throw telephone directories around, smash the walls with thickly upholstered baseball bats and burst air-filled plastic cushions that really make a bang.” Last year, the MIT Initiative donated a significant sum of money for the program in order to secure its continuation and also in recognition of Jason Tylenda’s voluntary involvement.

The resources and equipment may be minimal, but what really counts for the children is the recognition and affection that they get from their carers. Most children’s homes in Mexico permanently have to fight against financial ruin. Some employees of Henkel Mexicana S.A. therefore specifically support children’s homes in their country. This includes Monica Martinez and Cecilia Brasetti, who have close links with the orphanage “La Divina Providencia” and its manager Ines Valdivia González. In this home, 220 boys have found a new place to call their own. Many have been abandoned by their parents, and some are physically or mentally disabled, while others suffer from leukemia or other life-threatening diseases. Raymundo Romero Arredondo, on the other hand, is closely involved with the “Alegria” orphanage in Toluca, which is run as a private charity. There are currently 16 girls from broken families living there; and there are more than 100 on the waiting list, an indication of the urgency with which the home needs to expand its capacities. MIT has made a generous donation in order to support the orphanage in this project.