Bereiche: Emergency Aid

Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. runs the "Svitlytsia" education and development center in Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine, which provides support and rehabilitation for children and young people directly affected by the war. These include children of soldiers, internally displaced persons, orphans and other socially disadvantaged children. Since the beginning of 2023, more than 1,000 children have visited the facility to take part in over 20 different workshops and activities, such as painting, music lessons, stretching, acting, first aid courses and therapy sessions.  

Due to the destruction of the infrastructure, the power and heat supply in particular is interrupted almost daily. Thanks to the support of the Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation DRYING LITTLE TEARS, a hybrid inverter and a battery energy storage solution could be purchased to maintain the supply and thus enable the children to continue their activities. 

The Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. (Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V.) in the Dresden regional association operates several refugee shelters, including a family shelter currently housing 33 children from various nations. Here, the Johanniter provide low-threshold social work and act as an important link to moving into municipally-provided housing.

The families arrive with very little of their belongings and, due to limited capacity in the containers, can only bring a small number of personal items. This means they lack a children's room and the possibility of a retreat within their "own" space. Thanks to the toys they have acquired, such as a ping-pong table, scooters, building block sets, soccer goals, basketball hoops, and even sand toys, the Johanniter are able to provide balance in a specially created playroom.

In addition, language barriers should be broken down. Linguistic integration is particularly important for children and young people, as most are already integrated into regular schooling. However, families often only speak their native language, which provides little support for extracurricular language development. Thanks to the acquired learning elements, such as a blackboard, educational games, and teaching materials, traditional school learning is combined with playful elements of everyday learning.

This allows the Johanniter to draw on a wide range of meaningful leisure activities and to carry out targeted project work to integrate families, especially children.

At the beginning of July 2024, the Okhmatdyt State Children's Hospital in Kyiv was partially and severely damaged by bombing. A catastrophe for the children who were being treated there at the time and their families. Many seriously ill children had to be evacuated at short notice. 37 of these seriously ill children were placed in the municipal Kyiv Children's Hospital No. 1.

The hospital was able to take in these children, but it lacks the necessary medical equipment to provide the necessary care and operations. Through Life Bridge Ukraine gGmbH, we received a list of urgently needed instruments and equipment compiled by the Kyiv city administration. These were made available to the children's hospital immediately. This has already significantly improved the situation for the children.

"We are very grateful for the help of the Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation. The equipment is extremely important for us, because in our country during the military operations there are many children who need special neurosurgical care, as injuries from mine explosions are very serious. Unfortunately, the hospital was not able to purchase expensive and high-quality equipment on its own at the moment. We would therefore like to thank you very much for your help, because this help will save many little lives in the future.", Deputy Director, Kyiv Children's Hospital No. 1

The ongoing war in Ukraine has hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv particularly hard. The attacks often lead to power outages, which also affect hospitals. The children's clinic therefore urgently needed charging stations to ensure the continuous operation of medical equipment during these power outages.

The new charging stations for the hospital support medical rehabilitation and palliative care for seriously ill children. This is a great relief for their families and nursing staff. The devices help save the lives of children who depend on medical devices. The chargers are used for seriously ill children who depend on oxygen or blood circulation.

In the former St. Gabriel monastery in Berlin, which is currently leased and managed by the “Kindergarten der Schele-Schule non-profit GmbH”, there have been 28 Ukrainian women and their 39 children between the ages of 1.5 and 15 since the beginning of the war in Ukraine Refuge. Thanks to the support of the Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation, they received a new kitchen, renovated living rooms with new beds and mattresses, equipped rooms for child care and an improved fire protection concept in their new premises. This enables the mothers to have functioning childcare and supports them in arriving in Germany not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. We wish the families all the best and hope that they quickly feel comfortable in their new home.

The Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation, in collaboration with the Pullach im Isartal e.V. partnership association, has taken a significant step to improve educational opportunities in Ukraine. For this purpose, basement rooms in the communities of Voloshinivka and Baryshivka were successfully converted into classrooms in order to give children access to face-to-face lessons despite the tense situation, even while air alarms sounded. This can only take place if shelters are available and are appropriately equipped as classrooms to continue teaching.

These construction projects included not only basic renovations, but also extensive electrical wiring upgrades to ensure a secure power supply. This enabled the installation of lighting, ventilation and heating systems, and plumbing. These infrastructure improvements not only help make the learning environment safer and more comfortable, but also improve the quality of life for children. In addition, dedicated areas have been created for games and activities aimed at promoting children's psychosocial development. Given the ongoing challenges and stresses posed by the conflict, it is crucial to provide Ukraine's young people not only with education but also with opportunities to strengthen their emotional and social skills and gain positive experiences.

When the war in Ukraine began, it was mainly women who fled with their children and were taken in by emergency shelters across Germany. These emergency shelters were set up in a very short space of time and were often rudimentary in their facilities, especially in the area of ​​child-friendly learning and activity opportunities. For school-age children, it was important to quickly create a learning environment that would give them access to education and a daily structure. 

Suitable furniture and necessary equipment for learning and group rooms were financed for ten institutions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in order to create a conducive environment for learning, homework and educational and leisure activities. 

By redesigning the learning and group rooms in these ten Malteser accommodations, improved conditions have been created and the learning opportunities and range of leisure activities for the children have been significantly optimized. At the same time, the rooms provide a feeling of stability and structure so that the children can concentrate on the school content.  

With the support of the Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation, rooms have been set up in two municipal refugee shelters in Munich specifically for the care of Ukrainian families. These rooms are used both for childcare and as places to play, do handicrafts and do homework.

The two rooms were renovated with great dedication and equipped with new furniture. Since October 2023, Ukrainian children aged 3-6 have been using the room daily for creative activities under the supervision and guidance of specialist and assistant staff. Schoolchildren can also do their homework there in the afternoons. Particular attention was paid to ensuring that the room is multifunctional in order to meet the different needs of the children.

The creation of these care spaces has significantly improved the quality of life of Ukrainian children and their families, providing a safe place to play, learn and develop.

SIXT Latvia has supported people living there in Ukraine through donations, urgently needed equipment and generators. The deliveries were extremely important, especially in the winter months, and the items of clothing and medicine collected were a great support. In addition, SIXT Latvia supported Ukrainian families with evacuation and accommodation in the Baltic states.

The Alexander Moksel Kindergarten of the Israeli Community in the Jewish Community Center has taken in children who have fled Ukraine for day care. In order to provide them with a balanced program with plenty of distraction, another crib trolley was purchased. Now all children can take part in the excursions together. In this way, social structures are strengthened and the Ukrainian children are integrated into everyday kindergarten life. 

In late September 2022, Hurricane Ian left a trail of destruction along Florida's west coast and hit Collier County, Florida hard. Losses included a treasured playground and critical materials for YMCA after-school childcare programs. A partnership was formed between SIXT USA and the YMCA of Collier County through the Naples Children Education Foundation (NCEF).

The YMCA serves over 10,000 children from the community each year. When the extent of the damage became known, SIXT USA contacted us to provide support. The playground was rebuilt together and a new area was created. The fencing around the playground was restored. Donations in kind were also handed over at the inauguration of the playground. This included tables, books, sports equipment, arts and crafts materials, toys and many other essential items.

“We all know how important it is for children to have a beautiful and safe place to play outside so they can grow, learn and thrive. We look forward to hearing the healthy and happy laughter of children from this playground for many years to come,” Mick Moore, YMCA Chief Executive Officer

As part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of SIXT Poland, donations were collected to finance snozel rooms in the pediatric oncology clinics of the Bydgoszcz and Poznan clinics for Ukrainian children. They are traumatized due to their cancer, but also PTSD syndromes, stress, as well as cultural and linguistic differences. Snoezel rooms are used by children to reduce stress, relax and deal with trauma. This type of therapy supports natural development, strengthens self-esteem and increases communication skills. The Snoezel rooms also benefit Polish children suffering from cancer.

SIXT and its partners financed the construction and furnishing of the rooms. The local foundation “Na Ratunek Dzieciom z Chorobą Nowotworową” (Foundation for the Rescue of Children with Cancer) provides certified psychologists and psychotherapists. The Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation also supported this project by financing the equipment of one of the sensory rooms.