Social Engagement

Sustainability also means social responsibility. As a model corporate citizen, Linde MH supports the positive and sustainable development of society—especially where its customers, employees, and their families live and work. The company focuses on social and humanitarian issues, but also aims to promote education, science, and environmental protection. The CSR approach focuses on the local level. After all, local teams know best when it comes to deciding which local projects to support. Linde MH employees demonstrate a great deal of commitment in this area and always get actively involved.

Linde MH is guided by the KION Group’s donation and sponsorship policy, which governs social engagement, responsibilities, and the relevant decision-making processes. In 2020, the guidelines were revised and optimized Group-wide. They cover both financial donations and charitable voluntary work, meaning decisions can be made quickly and pragmatically on the spot and help can be provided quickly in an emergency, for example in the event of a natural disaster.

The KION Group Code of Compliance also contains relevant information and provides legal certainty for local managers. All donations and sponsorship activities are reviewed and approved in advance by the Compliance department. Donations must always be transparent, follow set principles, and comply with the KION Group’s values and rules as well as with relevant legislation.

The KION Group always draws a clear line between donations and sponsorship activities in social engagement. Donations are voluntary monetary or in-kind contributions to a charitable organization, made without the expectation of anything in return. Sponsorship, on the other hand, is linked to receiving something in return, for example advertising or marketing opportunities. It is therefore vital that the recipients’ intended use aligns with the KION Group’s values or principles.

Linde actively supports the social and humanitarian sector with a number of initiatives such as “Linde Solidaria,” “Les Restaurants du Cœur,” and “StaplerCup hilft e.V.” Funding is also available for educational, scientific, and environmental projects.

Linde Solidaria

The Linde Solidaria program was launched in 2006 and is based on two main pillars: the voluntary work of Linde Material Handling Ibérica employees and annual donations. These activities are carried out in cooperation with recognized institutions wherever Linde MH has branches. The program supports people with special needs and those who are at risk of social exclusion.

Linde Material Handling Ibérica and its dealer network support initiatives of all kinds through donations and volunteer days. The Linde Solidaria program also supports specific projects, for example by lending trucks to organizations such as food banks or the Red Cross.

Every year, dozens of employees from the branches, together with their families and friends, help to organize charity events for institutions that play an important role in society and have a big influence on the community where they live. In honor of these events, Linde Material Handling Ibérica makes a donation that is then used throughout the year to purchase materials and upgrade the equipment and facilities at the centers. This helps to improve the quality of life of the people who visit these centers.

Stacking for a Good Cause

Every year, StaplerCup hilft e.V. supports charitable organizations and institutions from the Aschaffenburg region with monetary donations. In 2023, the association presented a check worth 10,000 euros—the sum raised by the trainees at Linde MH during the StaplerCup 2023—to aid organization Aschaffenburger Kinderträume e.V., which is dedicated to supporting children with serious illnesses and disabilities as well as young people affected by war, famine, or environmental catastrophes. Additional donations were raised in the amount of 1,000 euros for the Kinderschutzbund Aschaffenburg child protection association and 5,000 euros for Kinderclowns, a group that visits Aschaffenburg Hospital to entertain the children there.

In the year under review, the entire proceeds from the entry fees for the StaplerCup are once again supporting a social institution in the region. Essener Elterninitiative zur Unterstützung krebskranker Kinder e.V., a parents’ initiative to support children with cancer, thus received a check for 1,000 euros in the run-up to the StaplerCup. Founded in 1983 and funded mainly by donations, the association’s aim is to take on small and big worries alike by working together and to help parents who often lack the strength to tackle everyday responsibilities when their child is ill. Thanks to the many forklift drivers who took part in the StaplerCup this year, Linde Material Handling Rhein-Ruhr was also able to make a small donation to the charitable association’s “Elternhaus für Betroffene” project, which is a parents’ house for affected families. The presented donations underscore StaplerCup hilft e.V.’s ongoing commitment to the region and its aim of influencing the community in a positive way through social projects.

Disaster Relief

The devastating earthquake of February 6, 2023, left millions of people in the Turkish-Syrian border region grappling with the consequences of the disaster of the century. Thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands are still homeless, their homes destroyed or left too unsafe for them to return. One way in which employees could show solidarity with those affected in the region was by dedicating a chosen number of credit hours via the HR department as a donation to the German Red Cross. The German Red Cross was actively involved in rescuing those trapped following the earthquake and in providing care and accommodation for those affected. Donations for earthquake relief from the KION Group as a whole have now exceeded the considerable sum of a quarter of a million euros—the continuing solidarity shown by employees from around the world has been extremely impressive.