© Ajdin Kamber
Wienerberger Teams in Action for Earthquake Victims in Croatia
After the devastating earthquake in Croatia, employees of the local country organizations of the Wienerberger Group leapt into action to provide emergency relief on the ground to those who had been affected.
Two days before New Year’s Eve, on 29 December last year, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Croatian region of Petrinja and Sisak. Just one day earlier, the region had been hit by an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale. This is the largest earthquake to occur in the region since 1905.
The level of human suffering is equally distressing, with 7 people having lost their lives and more than 33,000 houses and apartment blocks being severely damaged. A total of 2,730 residential buildings were completely destroyed. Families who had lost their homes were put up in housing containers and mobile homes donated from abroad.
When you see people who in just a few short minutes have lost the home they spent their entire lives working for, then you just know you have to do something to help them.
Wienerberger has four organizations in this region that leapt into action to help those affected by the earthquake with construction materials and infrastructure solutions. So far approximately 150 tons of Porotherm clay blocks, clay roof tiles and 8,500 Pipelife pipes plus 800 pipe fittings and joints have been donated. In cooperation with the local authority, these products will be used to provide emergency aid and to support the rapid reconstruction of the houses that were destroyed. More here: Press Release – Wienerberger Assistance for Earthquake Victims in Croatia
In this situation it is only natural that we wish to help those in need as quickly as possible by providing them with construction materials from our company – as a manufacturer that is the least we can do. Our primary objective is to continuously improve people’s quality of life. One aspect of this is making it possible for people to live and work safely in places at high risk of seismic events. We will make an important contribution to reconstruction with our highly innovative and safest solutions in Croatia too.
Staff from our country organizations Wienerberger Croatia, Wienerberger Slovenia, Semmelrock Croatia, Pipelife Croatia and Pipelife Slovenia were also eager to play their part and help. They therefore joined forces and launched their own humanitarian relief effort.
After the earthquake it was clear that the people who had been affected would need help for a very long time to come and that you feel the need to help them in any way you can. Selflessly helping others feeds the soul and I am happy that we have made someone smile even if just for a moment.
In situations like this we have to show solidarity and help our fellow citizens in this difficult situation. Sending donations is the very least we can do.
Coordination teams at each country organization swiftly put a campaign in place to collect what the earthquake victims currently need most: Food and hygiene articles. Soon large numbers of colleagues from across all organizations had joined in and at the end of January they were able to hand over the urgently needed essential goods.
We were given the opportunity to help in a very simple way. I didn’t want to miss it.
On Saturday 30 January, the teams each drove from their respective country organization to the Red Cross base in Petrinja, where the goods are sorted, made up into parcels and distributed on a daily basis to those who need them.
The initiative is a fantastic advertisement for the Business Unit and cross-border cooperation within the Wienerberger Group. On behalf of the managing board of Wienerberger AG, I would like to say a very big thank you to our colleagues for their extraordinary efforts.
Only when things get tough do you see who your real friends are. I’m happy to help!
© Rawpixel Ltd./Uwe Strasser
