This summer, several European countries were hit by catastrophic floods causing deaths and severe damage. In Germany, Thorsten Märtin found himself trapped in his house for several days while the floods raged.
When Service Technician Thorsten Märtin went to bed on the night of July 13, he could hear the rain falling heavily on the leaves outside. The next morning, the rain had stopped, but the sound of running water remained. So, Thorsten went to look out the windows to find the source of the noise.
“When I looked out the front, the street had turned into a river. I saw cars passing by in the water, and people crying out for their cars and animals. You see it, but you don’t understand what is actually happening,” Thorsten recalls. He quickly realised that his house was surrounded by water. The small stream that usually runs under the houses in the street, had turned into a massive river, and he could do nothing but stand and watch as big blocks of asphalt, trees and cars – including his wife’s - sailed past.
A stream of mud Fortunately, it was dry inside the house save for a little water in the basement. The garage, however, was another story. “The internet was down, so we had no information about what was going on. I tried to fetch a radio from the garage, but there was 50 centimetres of mud covering the floor, and the current was so strong, I had to give up,” says Thorsten.
Finally, almost two days later, Thorsten and his wife were able to leave the house for the first time. The water had retreated and left small pools on the street, some of them with fish in. People quickly started cleaning up their houses, garages and the streets to get the city back on track. “Everyone was helping each other. There was such a community feeling and the solidarity was amazing.”
An unexpected helping hand Following the news of the devastating floods, the Employee Foundation reached out to the affected countries to find out if any VELUX employees needed help. Thorsten’s manager put him in contact with the foundation, who gave him a grant.
"Everyone was helping each other. There was such a community feeling and the solidarity was amazing."
Thorsten Märtin Service Technician
“My wife and I were very surprised and extremely moved to receive a grant from the Employee Foundation. We didn’t think about asking for help, and I had never thought that my company would support me in such a way, so to find out that the foundation was there for me in such a horrible situation was very touching. It made it a bit easier to deal with the consequences,” says Thorsten. The city is now mostly back to normal, even though there are still signs of the devastation around the area. Old furniture left on the street or an abandoned car on the side of a road. And though Thorsten did not feel afraid during the floods, the experience has left a mark: “When it starts raining now, we look out the window and worry a bit. And I do feel happy and relieved every time I come home from work and see that everything is okay.”
About the Employee Foundation
The Employee Foundation was established in 1991 to support employees of the VKR Group and their families worldwide. Since then, it has made 7,500 grants and more than 5,200 employees have received support. At the same time, more than 2,200 projects in the vicinity of VKR Group companies have benefited from grants from the Employee Foundation.
Grants
Employees that have recieved support
The foundation’s major purposes:
- To support employees and their immediate families in times of distress and in connection with death, accident or illness with serious consequences or children’s final education. The majority of funds goes to this purpose.
- To support non-profit projects within a close radius of the VKR Group’s locations.
Beyond this, the Employee Foundation confers the annual Villum Kann Rasmussen Award to a selection of employees who exemplify the Model Company Objective. The foundation is also responsible for special programs promoting health and well-being for all employees, e.g. Healthy Habits campaigns and the voluntary work programme, Live a Dream. Read more The Employee Foundation