DGAP-News: Donations of around EUR 50,000 collected at the AURELIUS Christmas party

Donations of around EUR 50,000 collected at the AURELIUS Christmas party

- AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V. successfully implemented numerous projects in 2018

- START Foundation supports the first class of students in Bavaria

Munich, December 24, 2018 - At this year's AURELIUS Christmas party, employees and the Executive Board donated around EUR 50,000 to AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V. (http://aureliusinvest.de/en/aurelius-refugee-initiative/). The association founded in 2015 aims to support refugees on their path to a better life by means of a long-term aid program. This involvement will be expanded further in 2019, particularly with projects to aid the integration of refugees in Germany.

"If the integration of refugees into our society is to succeed, language and education are the key factors," says Dr. Dirk Markus, CEO of AURELIUS. "These two things enable the people who have fled to our country to make an active contribution to society and establish an independent future for themselves. That is why we want to advance the issue of integration in our country next year as well. At the same time, we are supporting projects in the crisis regions to aid the people living there in hardship and misery."

The AURELIUS Refugee Initiative will also continue to support the activities of the START Foundation in Bavaria in 2019. START is a three-year scholarship program for highly talented school-goers who have only been living in Germany for a few years. It has already supported more than 700 young people with an immigration and refugee background with scholarships and helped them to complete their schooling successfully. The first donation of the AURELIUS Refugee Initiative in the amount of EUR 100,000 made it possible to support a first START class of 16 scholarship recipients in Bavaria.

Various other projects were successfully implemented in 2018:

AURELIUS School for Syrian refugee children in Turkey

AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V. has funded a school for Syrian refugees in western Turkey since the end of 2017. The new AURELIUS School, which is run locally by Avicenna Kultur- und Hilfswerk e.V., used the donation of the AURELIUS Refugee Initiative to school around 50 refugee children. Classes in Arabic and mathematics are meant to provide the Syrian civil war refugees with better educational prospects near their home country of Syria. The school also offers evening classes for up to 25 women.

"A24 Werkstätten" integration project in Munich

AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V. supported the "A24 Werkstätten" organization of the Munich-based mobility specialist Spectrum Mobil with EUR 108,000 in 2018. A24 is the biggest not-for-profit and brand-independent automotive and bicycle repair shop in the Munich area. A24 also provides vocational support in the form of a training program to disadvantaged asylum seekers with and without professional education. The goal is to put the graduates in their first jobs.

House of Learning in Lebanon

AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V. supported the "Bar Elias Education Center" of Orienthelfer e.V. in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon with funds of EUR 63,500 in 2018. This money paid the salaries of the teachers there for a full year. The "House of Learning " is situated about 20 kilometers from the Syrian border. The improved educational prospects for their children are intended to encourage Syrian refugee families to remain close to their home country of Syria.

For more information, visit http://aureliusinvest.de/aurelius-refugee-initiative/

AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V.
Employees and the Executive Board of AURELIUS Holding established the charitable association "AURELIUS Refugee Initiative e.V." at the end of 2015. The association is financed by donations from employees and the Executive Board of AURELIUS. The aim of the association is to sponsor various aid projects that provide humanitarian aid and financial support to refugees on their path to a safer life.
http://aureliusinvest.de/en/aurelius-refugee-initiative/
Contact: ari@aureliusinvest.com