© INTERSPAR/wildbild
Download imageSince the outbreak of the health crisis, families and their children have come under increasing pressure. “In these challenging times, fast and unbureaucratic help for young people in need is extremely important. That is why we are particularly grateful for reliable partners. INTERSPAR Austria has been supporting us since 2004 in offering children and young people support and a promising future”, said Christian Moser, Managing Director SOS Children’s Villages Austria. The generous donation was presented by INTERSPAR Austria Managing Director Johannes Holzleitner and Board Member Markus Kaser.
In 2020, INTERSPAR Austria celebrated its 50th anniversary. “The anniversary is a reason to be happy, and we are delighted to share this joy with our long-term partner SOS Children’s Villages. At the same time, it is particularly important to us to support the organisation in these demanding times of crisis”, said Johannes Holzleitner.
Part of the donation has been invested in the construction of a children’s residential group in the SOS Children’s Village in Nussdorf-Debant. Since summer 2020, the house has been able to accommodate nine children and young people. The residential group was built to be particularly sustainable and enables the implementation of an educational concept that corresponds to modern standards and the latest criteria for child and youth welfare. Each child has their own room and small apartments are available for parents and relatives to stay overnight. The building is planned in such a way that spatially and atmospherically individual care for children and adolescents is possible as is improved contact with parents.
Part of the donation will fund the ‘Advice on Wire’ telephone hotline through which over 87,000 consultations are carried out annually. Experts are available 24/7 to address the concerns of children, adolescents and their caregivers. “The year 2020 was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which also increased the pressure on children and young people. Rapid psychological support was particularly important”, said Christian Moser. “Platforms like this free and anonymous hotline are important for children and young people to overcome crises.”
In addition to financial aid, INTERSPAR Austria also contributed to raising awareness on this topic with a fundraising campaign. From mid-November to mid-December 2020, customers could buy donation cards from INTERSPAR Hypermarkets. The amount collected was rounded up by INTERSPAR Austria and converted into minutes for the hotline. “With our charitable campaigns, we want to encourage donations and draw attention to those who need help”, said Board Member Markus Kaser.
Source: SPAR Austria
Read more news from SPAR Austria.
The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.
With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade during 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade.
