Following the dissolution of the wdv-Gruppe’s foundation called the BLEIB GESUND STIFTUNG, the company has now distributed the remainder of the foundation’s assets. Along with four other beneficiaries DKMS Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei GmbH received EUR 55,000.

This tremendous donation is not the first of its kind from the wdv-Gruppe to benefit leukemia patients around the world. Since 2006, the publishing house has been a reliable partner in the 1000 Club, a special community of different companies, renowned organizations and prominent individuals who are devoted to the fight against leukemia.On December 19 Thomas Kuhn, managing director of wdv-Gruppe along with Klaus Tonello, the foundation’s former board chairman as well as Dorothée Finé, head of corporate communication, presented a cheque for the impressive amount to DKMS.

The check was received by Stephan Schumacher, Director Marketing & Donor Acquisition at DKMS, who was very happy: "wdv-Gruppe supports us regularly both financially and ideally! It would be wonderful if more companies followed this positive example." Klaus Tonello is also very satisfied: "We are so happy that as a result of the foundation’s donation there is a chance to give 1,100 people a new lease on life. We hope this will lead to many healing success stories." A great resolution for the New Year.

At his year’s donor recognition event for the Telekom in Bonn there was a very special moment: the first meeting of Telekom employee Achim Weich with nine-year-old Markus. There is a very special bond between the two of them because in 2006 Achim Weich saved Markus’ life with a stem cell donation. The boy, who is now nine, had leukemia. In the meantime, Markus is doing excellently. He travelled with his brother Vinzenz and his parents from southern Germany to meet Achim Weich.

It was a very moving moment for both of them. The life-saving donor Achim Weich was so pleased to see the lively boy. The Telekom donor is one of almost 60 the Telekom employees, who have donated life-saving stem cells. Each year as part of Telekom‘s cooperation with DKMS, new life-saving donors from the current year are recognized. This was the case on December 5, 2011, the official day of recognition, when four life-saving donors accepted the invitation to the headquarters in Bonn. There were lively exchanges. The donor Roman Zitz, for instance, showed a postcard and letter from his patient, a two-year-old boy. Furthermore, at this event Telekom employees Heinz Fonteyne, Lars Wanke und Daniel Laczi were also recognized by Dietmar Welslau (Personnel Manager Telekom) and Heike Jungbluth (DKMS) for their exceptional dedication.

A success story that is still in progress - this week alone around 160 new donors were registered at the Telekom in an internal donor drive. There are still hopes of hitting the magic number of 6,000 registered employees this year.

Sabine Bitterich is a hero! On December 9, 2011 she was distinguished for her exemplary effort by her employer Alain Caparros (Board Chairman of the REWE Group) together with Stephan Schumacher (DKMS Director of New Donors and Marketing) and Priya Bit (DKMS Fundraising & Event) with a donor certificate recalling the day she saved the life of a stranger.

In 2004 Sabine Bitterich registered herself during a registration drive at the University of Hohenheim as a potential life saver in the donor registry at DKMS. “There was no special reason why I did it.“ She says today. You just have to imagine what it would be like if you or someone close to you were one day dependent on a donation. Then you too would wish for a matching donor somewhere in the world.

Seven years after her registration she received a phone call from DKMS that she had, in fact, almost identical tissue characteristics to those of a seriously ill patient and that in the next little while other tests would follow. “Right from start everyone was great to me. I felt very well looked after.” says Sabine Bitterich, talking about the time when she donated stem cells.

Her genetic twin comes from the USA and recovered well from the transplantation. A few weeks ago she received mail from the family of the patient, which is infinitely grateful. “When I received the post card, I was overwhelmed with happiness,” the DKMS donor happily explains.

Great work agrees Alain Caparros, who did not want to miss the opportunity to congratulate his employee personally on this special date and handed her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He also underscored just how important he finds the work of DKMS and that it is a matter of course for REWE to grant employees leave for a stem cell donation. “The REWE Group has a long-standing partnership with DKMS. To date more than 50 branches have supported DKMS across the country in the fight against leukemia. Companies like REWE that assume social responsibility are an important support for our vital work,” emphasizes Stephan Schumacher.

In 2000, DB Regio Region RheinNeckar established the trainee project "Bahn-Azubis gegen Hass und Gewalt" (Deutsche Bahn Trainees against Hatred and Violence). By doing so the company took a clear stand against hatred, violence and xenophobia. This year, the trainees selected the topic of cultural diversity for this project.

At DKMS diversity is also an important topic, which is why the Deutsche Bahn trainees decided to organize a raffle at their indoor soccer tournament in Karlsruhe to benefit DKMS and to set up an information booth on site to raise awareness. The proceeds in the amount of EUR 400 without deductions went to DKMS. On April 24 2012, the trainees presented a check to our employee, Daniel Nolte, at Mannheim Central Station right in front of a DB Regio commuter train. The eight new life donors, who were registered as part of the event, could soon give a patient a new lease on life.

Everyone is really expectant and excited in the Fotodom studios: the photographer along with an assistant, a make-up artist and several employees of DKMS are waiting for two men to arrive. Today, the spotlights are on stem cell donor and lifesaver, Michael Lückenbach and Jonathan Gschwendner, who are expected for a communications photo-shoot of DKMS in the studio.

The tea company employee was the proverbial "needle in the haystack.“ As a “genetic twin”, 31-year-old Michael Lückenbach donated stem cells for a patient with leukemia. He is therefore one of the more than 36.206 donors to give a new chance for life who have been discovered by DKMS since it was founded 20 years ago. DKMS employee Petra Ennenbach thanked the lifesaver on behalf of DKMS for his outstanding dedication and commitment and she presented him with a donor certificate as a token of recognition.

Jonathan Gschwendner also took advantage of this opportunity to personally congratulate his employee with respect to this extraordinary assignment and he is clearly very proud to have a lifesaver at TeeGschwendner. In 2010, Michael Lückenbach had himself registered in the world’s largest donor center as part of a company drive of the Meckenheimer-based company.“The actual stem cell donation itself was over incredibly quickly. Preferably, I would have liked to have donated many more stem cells in order to help more people,“ said Lückenbach.

In concluding, Jonathan Gschwendner confirmed that his company actively aims to support DKMS in the future in the fight against leukemia. TeeGschwendner is a committed partner of DKMS and for a year now, a member in the Club of 1,000, the special community at DKMS comprised of companies, renowned organizations and prominent personalities. Here's hoping that many others will follow the example of TeeGschwendner and Michael Lückenbach!