IKA receives social engagement award - “Mid-size company award for corporate social responsibility” presented for the charitable project “HANDS For Children”.

The Staufen-based laboratory equipment manufacturer IKA has received the mid-size company award for corporate social responsibility for its charitable initiative “HANDS For Children”.

"“The company’s multi-faceted commitment is invaluable and gives people at the edge of society new prospects in a straightforward and entirely practical way,” explained Caritas directors Monsignor Bernhard Appel (Freiburg) and Prelate Wolfgang Tripp (Stuttgart) before 400 guests in the Stuttgart’s New Castle on June 27. At the award ceremony, Baden-Württemberg’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Nils Schmidt stressed the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in business strategy: “Credible CSR activities are becoming a major competitive advantage in the battle to secure expertise, which in many areas is in increasingly short supply.”

“HANDS For Children” is a project run by IKA pensioners. Since 1997, they have been assembling equipment, the proceeds from which go to children and young people in need. Whether for the construction of schools in Ethiopia or to improve the infrastructure for a village in the Peruvian Andes.

Over 200 mid-size companies from Baden-Württemberg put their names forward for the mid-size company award for corporate social responsibility. It has been presented annually since 2007 by Caritas and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for Finance and Economic Affairs.

Under the slogan “Action – Commitment – Recognition”, this organization presents awards to companies that undertake voluntary social and societal work with organizations in the non-profit sector. Academic support for the awards process is provided by Stuttgart’s Institute for Social Marketing.