Valmet supports education of children with SOS Children's Villages of India
Oct 3, 2017
For over 50 years, the SOS Children's Villages of India has been providing family-based care for parentless or abandoned children in India. Valmet has been supporting the organization since 2007 by helping its work to benefit children in need of care and protection.
SOS Children's Villages is a unique organization in providing the parentless or abandoned children with a home-like environment, and giving them long-term support – even up to adulthood. This means every child has a caring parent, brothers and sisters. When growing up with real family ties, children gain a sense of responsibility and a spirit of sharing. This is enhanced by providing both a home where the child can feel secure, as well as roots in the community in which it is located.
Valmet’s donations enable the education of 115 children including all the associated expenses, such as books, transportation, and extra-curricular activities for the period of a year. In addition, the donation supports the all-round living and educational expenses of a "family" of 5 children for a year.
Valmet’s representatives received a warm welcome by the SOS Children’s Village in Chennai. Photo: D. Sivasubramanian, Valmet Chennai
"As a corporate entity, Valmet is aware that it has a social responsibility to support the community which it is a part of. By aiding SOS Children’s Villages, it has been reaching out in India to underprivileged children, assisting them to meet life’s challenges and ultimately become contributing members of society", says K Suresh Kumar, Director for Global Operations, India.
Making a difference
In 2016, Valmet continued the tradition to support non-governmental, humanitarian organizations that work on a local level with youth activities, environmental protection, and research and education. SOS Children's Villages of India is one example of these community involvement activities. Valmet’s donations to non-profit organizations totaled 250,000 euros in 2016.
Valmet sees local community involvement as a vital component of company’s way of working.
Anu Salonsaari-Posti, Valmet’s SVP, Marketing, Communication and Sustainability, explains why this is such an important issue:
"We believe that helpful collaboration with local communities is essential for every good corporate citizen," she explains. "We want to support communities in which we live and work. We have had strong presence in India since 2004, and this kind of long term local collaboration is good example of various ways to make a difference."