Mercedes-Benz Bank employees renovate youth center in Stuttgart

More than 100 employees of Mercedes-Benz Bank in Germany got together with local teenagers to renovate the “JimPazzo” youth center in Stuttgart during the bank’s “Day of Caring” on October 23, 2008. Bankers exchanged their suits for coveralls and spent the day painting walls, ceilings, and radiators, building shelves and cabinets, and hanging blinds. Mercedes-Benz Bank paid for the materials needed for the renovation, and the bank and its employees divided the time for the work into a half day on the company’s time and a half day of the employees’ own free time.

“I’m very proud to see so many people participating in the ‘Day of Caring’ because it shows that for us social responsibility is about getting involved personally and not just writing checks,” says Mercedes-Benz Bank chairman Peter Zieringer. Social responsibility is a very important part of Mercedes-Benz Bank’s corporate culture. For many years now, the bank has been supporting institutions and projects in the fields of education, community service, and art and culture.

The “JimPazzo” youth center is located in the Neugereut district of Stuttgart, where around 80 percent of the children and teenagers have an immigrant background. The area also has above-average levels of poverty and unemployment. “The ‘JimPazzo’ youth center is an important part of social life in Neugereut, and it carries out many valuable projects, such as those that aim to prevent violence among young people and support the integration of children from immigrant families,” says Bernd-Marcel Löffler, the district president of Stuttgart–Mühlhausen. Approximately 300 children and teenagers visit the youth center every week.

Mercedes-Benz Bank plans to support the “JimPazzo” youth center over the long term. Beginning in 2009, the “Day of Caring” will be supplemented by seminars that teach young people how to handle money responsibly and how to apply for a job effectively. “Many young people in this area have problems managing money and end up in debt,” says Rainer Leser, the manager of the “JimPazzo” youth center.

For several years now, Mercedes-Benz Bank has been offering its employees throughout Germany the opportunity to join together with their colleagues and voluntarily contribute to a good cause by assisting clubs, social institutions, kindergartens, schools, and rural youth centers. If at least three employees team up to work on a project, Mercedes-Benz Bank will subsidize its cost. Approximately 40 small projects have been implemented in this manner over the last two years. The “Day of Caring” at the “JimPazzo” youth center was the first project to offer a large number of employees the opportunity to work together as a team.

Additional information in the Internet: www.mercedes-benz-bank.de