The retail and the retail real estate industry launches a broad-based donation campaign for Ukraine

The news and images reaching us from Ukraine are shocking and upsetting. In many Ukrainian cities, complete shopping and residential areas have already fallen victim to Russian missile attacks, and hence the health care of the Ukrainian population has been particularly affected.

Against this background, the retail alliance “Life belongs in the center” together with the German Council of Shopping Places is now launching a large-scale fundraising campaign for Ukraine. Numerous companies from the retail and retail real estate sector will broadcast the appeal for donations in their stores and shopping centers to make their websites and social media channels available for this cause. Independently from this are the many financial and in-kind donations from the participating companies, as well as the leave of absence of employees for the purpose of supporting the concerned refugees .

Alleviate the enormous suffering

“The point for us is that we want to alleviate the enormous suffering of the people in Ukraine a little bit in a peaceful way. We do that by lending our name recognition and reach to this broad appeal for donations. The donations will be used in a focused way for medical purposes. We all have a humanitarian responsibility to help here to the best of our ability,” says Michael Busch, Managing Partner of Thalia, explaining the motivation behind the fundraising campaign.

The philosophy is clear: Together, strong partners help people in and from Ukraine. The appeal for donations is launched in cooperation with the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH). 100% of these donations will support coordinated UKSH relief measures. The UKSH has been a cooperation partner of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health for many years. As the second largest university hospital in Germany, it has professional medical business and care expertise and is currently coordinating aid shipments to Ukraine with its “UKSH helps Ukraine” campaign – even under these difficult conditions. This includes important aid, such as medicines, medical material, transports of the aid supplies to Ukraine, as well as medical and therapeutic treatment offers for refugees from Ukraine. “The invasion of Ukraine in violation of international law leaves us stunned – but not helpless,” says Prof. Dr. Jens Scholz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UKSH. “We are very grateful to all parties involved in the German and European trade alliance for supporting the same goal. We are helping together and in a targeted way!”

Important to show solidarity

“In these difficult times, it is natural for us to also make our contribution in a targeted manner. The University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein is the ideal partner to implement these relief measures due to its established and professional relationship with Ukraine including Ukrainian-speaking staff,” said Christine Hager, CEO of the German Council of Shopping Places.

“As a pan European association representing an industry that serves the communities that it operates in, it is important that we show solidarity, not just with our Ukrainian colleagues, but also with the people who are being so dreadfully impacted by the events on the ground,” said Peter Wilhelm, Chairman of the European Council of Shopping Places. “As UKSH’s has an established partnership with the relevant Ukrainian authorities , we believe this campaign led by the German Council provides a strong opportunity to ensure the help we can give gets to the people who need it the most, as fast as possible,” says the Chairman at ECSP.

“Everyone can participate in this campaign; even small donations can have a big impact. If we all activate our network and individually donate even a small amount, it can save the lives of many people in Ukraine,” appeals Ingmar Behrens, authorized representative of the Board of the German Council of Shopping Places.