
Help for Ukraine and for the refugees from Ukraine is needed more urgently every day. Within REWE Group, numerous employees are helping to collect donations and organise aid transports.
In Austria, in addition to the appeal for donations for the Red Cross, direct contacts were also made with Caritas and the Ukrainian Embassy, among others, in order to organise professional help quickly and respond to the requests, especially for hygiene items and children's food. REWE Group employees in Austria have already donated over 21,000 euros to the Red Cross. The "Neighbour in Need" donation campaign was launched in BILLA and BIPA stores, where Ukraine donation hearts can be purchased for 5 euros. PENNY also collected around 36,000 euros in donations. In this way, donations totalling over 100,000 euros have already been collected. REWE Group in Austria also donated pallets of relief supplies to the Samaritans, Volkshilfe, the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the arrival centre in Vienna.
The independent ADEG retailers also helped quickly and easily by organising donations and aid transports with their local communities and aid organisations: retailer Alexander Haas, for example, coordinated a food donation transport to the Ukrainian border together with employees and the Lower Austrian community of Kottingbrunn. ADEG retailer Binder coordinated the donation of long-life food and tinned food from its customers in cooperation with the municipality. ADEG Ernsthofen also took part in a community initiative and collected food donations. ADEG Stummvoll is participating in an initiative in which customers can purchase ADEG vouchers to benefit refugees from Ukraine. ADEG Kaubek called for donations to the Red Cross via Facebook. Collection points for donations in kind were set up in the ADEG stores of the Nánási family and at ADEG Atan, which will be transported to the Ukrainian border in cooperation with aid organisations.
ADEG Seba in Ardagger Markt, Lower Austria, is also committed to helping refugees. In cooperation with the Albanienhilfe Ardagger working group, vital parcels are collected for people in need in Ukraine.
ADEG Schmutterer in Reisenberg organised donations of goods worth over 6,000 euros in collaboration with the municipality, fire brigade and Caritas, which were delivered to children's homes in Ukraine, among other places.
REWE salesman Jimmy Gawdi and his three supermarket teams in Lüdinghausen and Selm quickly agreed: in view of the constantly worsening situation for the people in Ukraine and on the escape routes, food specialists had to do more than just talk.
The decision was made to utilise the company's own infrastructure, the employees' existing passion and access to hundreds of customers every day to set up a collection point for donations in kind in the stores.
Jimmy Gawdi comments: "It was the express wish of our employees to do something. They were very committed and everything was ready in just a few days - including the supply chain all the way to Ukraine. Even relatives of our employees got involved and built donation walls in their own hobby workshop."
Urgently needed tinned food, basic foodstuffs, baby and children's food, hygiene products and drinks were quickly collected. REWE Gawdi is also setting up a secure way to donate money.
Together with the local logistics company Venneker, the store team organises the transport of the donations to the Polish-Ukrainian border and from there, with the help of a Vennerker subsidiary, onward transport to the greater Lviv and Kiev area. There, the donations are distributed to those in need. Venneker's drivers have volunteered to drive to the affected crisis areas in Ukraine so that the donations reach those who urgently need them. The first transporter set off for Ukraine at the end of March.
REWE Group offers a wide range of vacancies for Ukrainian refugees. Depending on previous professional experience and the respective training as well as existing language skills, different job profiles are possible - from IT to logistics to sales.
To facilitate the application process and the establishment of contact, the REWE Group job exchange offers a chat function in Ukrainian. In addition, REWE Group cooperates with several large job exchanges in order to create specific offers for Ukrainian refugees and make them visible there. These offers are translated accordingly. REWE Group is also in contact with the responsible authorities in order to clarify the administrative requirements and take them into account in the operational processes.
REWE Group has now donated almost a thousand tonnes of food and hygiene products for people in need in Ukraine, responding to an appeal by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). REWE and PENNY collected a total of over a thousand pallets of relief supplies. In addition, the shopping department donated almost half a million litres of water.
A 600-metre-long convoy consisting of 31 lorries with 894 pallets stacked full of food and hygiene products set off from the REWE logistics centre in Neu-Isenburg, Hesse, to the Polish-Ukrainian border in mid-March. The employees had organised themselves at short notice and gathered the food from the high-bay warehouse, as the first lorry was due to be ready for loading at nine o'clock the next morning.
From Friday morning, through the night until Saturday, the New Isenbugers loaded the lorries. "It should be emphasised that despite the difficult day-to-day business, this campaign was actively supported by all the Neu-Isenburg central warehouse logistics employees involved and was completed very successfully," says Peter Plöger, Head of Transport Logistics in Neu-Isenburg.
Hand sanitiser and soap, baker's yeast, wheat flour and rice are on their way to Ukraine. Many tonnes of each, almost 695 in total. First, the 31 lorries drove to a town 900 kilometres away between the Polish cities of Poznan and Warsaw. There, the aid organisation Agritrade took delivery of the goods. Peter Plöger was in close contact with the organisation's project manager, André Pilling, throughout the entire campaign. Plöger kept Pilling informed of the licence plates of the vehicles, approximate arrival times and the contents of the loads. He replied meaningfully, but briefly, with an impressive: "Thank you!"
pENNY donated 15 lorries with more than 270 pallets of food, including pasta and long-life tinned food, which were transported from Großbeeren to Poland. REWE Group's central purchasing department also provided 20 trucks with almost 500,000 litres of water.
PENNY Romania coordinated an aid delivery to the Romanian-Ukrainian border. 16 tonnes of non-perishable food and hygiene products were handed over to an NGO there, which then distributed the products to people in need in Ukraine. Contact with the NGO in Ukraine was established by REWE merchant Robert Renner from Chemnitz via AG Ukraine-Chemnitz-Europa e.V., which is also based in Chemnitz.
REWE retailer Michael Ermer and his team set an impressive example for peace in Jüchen. Together with the Protestant and Catholic parishes, the Malteser Hilfsdienst and the local Schützenbruderschaft, the owner of two REWE stores invited people to an open-air peace meal on 12 March.
The row of beer tables, decorated in yellow and blue, connecting the two places of worship in the centre of Jüchen was impressively long. Another unifying element was the borscht. The soup, consisting of sauerkraut, beetroot and beef, is part of the traditional cuisine in both countries, Ukraine and Russia. The hearty speciality was prepared by Robert Hellfritzsch, chef in Michael Ermer's team. 500 litres of steaming borscht awaited the almost 1,000 participants of the peace meal, including political celebrities from the mayor to members of the Bundestag. There were chicken nuggets and chips for the younger activists.
Even though organiser Michael Ermer had hoped for more participants, the amount raised - the food was served free of charge - was impressive. The people of Jüchen donated over 6,000 euros in cash and by Girocard for the Ukraine aid organisation "Deutschland hilft". Michael Ermer spontaneously declared that he would generously increase the sum to 10,000 euros.
"We sent the right signals with the right people at the right time," said Ermer, praising his team, who had once again shown their full commitment to a good cause. 30 employees were on duty that evening. The organiser is "very satisfied" with the response and the broad support. Even before the event, the shooters had already been vigorously promoting the event with specially produced podcasts. Ermer summarised: "The campaign showed how well connected we are in Jüchen. We just did what we do best."
REWE salesman Alexander Müller and his team help people affected by the war with a self-organised collection campaign.
10 boxes in 24 hours: That is the result of the short-term collection campaign organised by REWE retailer Alexander Müller in Oberau. Customers and employees were able to buy goods in the store and donate them directly on site. The boxes contained baby food, pasta, powdered milk, biscuits and hygiene products, among other things: All things that are urgently needed to provide for the Ukrainian population on the run.
In order not to lose any time, the donations were sent directly to the Polish border as quickly as possible. The merchant organised the lorry for the transport himself.
There is a great willingness to help Ukraine throughout REWE Group - also in the regions. Over the course of the week, we will be reporting here on the various activities of our colleagues.
In the Baden-Württemberg municipality of Reilingen, REWE store manager Nicole Trautwein and her store team organised an aid transport with donations in kind to the Ukraine. The Managing Director of REWE Nicole Trautwein oHG was actively supported by the local Friedrich Oberlin kindergarten. The numerous donations from many parents and store customers also contributed to the success of the campaign.
Setting a sign of solidarity: Mayor Stefan Weisbrod (left), REWE store manager Nicole Trautwein (centre) and her team, as well as the head of the Oberlin kindergarten, Cornelia Görres.
The local REWE supermarket and the municipality of Überherrn are a tried and tested team when there is a need: bags were already packed during the flood disaster - similar to the REWE food bag campaign.
Aline Christoffel, Assistant at REWE Markt Überherrn, and Anne Yliniva-Hoffmann, Mayor of Überherrn
This time there was such a relief campaign for Ukraine: the contents of the donation bags were put together in consultation with Malteser Hilfsdienst, which was planning a large collection transport. They contained baby food, nappies, toiletries and tins of food. Customers also took the opportunity to pack the bags themselves. The campaign will be continued.
Millions of people in Europe are currently experiencing the worst suffering and are on the run. This is why numerous Travel and Tourism partners are currently joining forces to support people fleeing Ukraine. The portal touristik-hilft.de is new, where companies and private individuals can register accommodation for people seeking protection and then request it unbureaucratically. DER Travel and Tourism supports this project and would like to share information about the platform.
The website www.touristik-hilft.de was launched within a few days. Volunteers can enter suitable accommodation for Ukrainian refugees from the war zone here. Information such as type and size of accommodation, location and other details are recorded. These criteria can be used to search and filter accordingly, so that accommodation for larger families can be found more quickly. The current focus is on available accommodation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but other regions can also be entered. Providers appear with a freely selectable user name and can then be contacted via the portal - as known from classified ad portals. Helpers and interested parties then coordinate the next steps with the provider. Initially, the site will be available in German and English and is therefore aimed at supporters who are in contact with people seeking protection. The functionality of the platforms will be continuously expanded. However, due to the current situation, this first version of the website will be online for the time being - the aim is to provide help quickly.
The development and operation of the website is being led by Ralf Usbeck and the team from the Düsseldorf-based Travel and Tourism IT specialist Peakwork in cooperation with the Essen-based software developers from IT square. The list of tourism partners supporting the project is growing daily and can be viewed at www.touristik-hilft.de. Companies and private individuals who would like to support the project can find further information and contacts on the website www.touristik-hilft.de.
REWE Group donates one million euros to the Red Cross to support the aid organisation's relief efforts in Ukraine. REWE Group is also responding to the appeal by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and is providing up to 1,000 tonnes of food.
Immediately after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, REWE Group decided to support the Red Cross donation campaign in Germany and Austria. To this end, the aid organisation set up special accounts through which REWE Group employees and the company itself can make their donations. So far, around 100,000 euros have been transferred to these accounts by employees in Germany and Austria. REWE Group is now donating an additional one million euros to the Red Cross.
The Red Cross is still dependent on support. This is why REWE Group continues to ask its employees to make donations via the websites of the German and Austrian Red Cross.
In addition to its commitment to donations, REWE Group is supporting the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in its efforts to supply the Ukrainian population with food. To this end, the short-term provision of up to 1,000 tonnes of food has been promised. This is being organised in close coordination between REWE Group's national companies in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Germany in order to meet the requirements efficiently and with the shortest possible distances.
In addition, REWE, PENNY and toom as well as REWE retailers in Germany are already supporting a large number of aid campaigns organised by municipalities, partnership associations, NGOs, church communities and local initiatives.
The REWE Group is donating 1 million euros to the relief efforts of the Red Cross in Ukraine. In response to an appeal from the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the REWE Group is also contributing up to 1,000 tonnes of food.
Immediately after the war began in Ukraine, the REWE Group decided to support the fundraising campaign of the Red Cross in Germany and Austria. The Red Cross has set up separate accounts to receive donations from employees of the REWE Group and from the company itself. So far, employees in Germany and Austria have deposited some 86,000 euros in these accounts. The REWE Group is contributing an additional 1 million euros to the Red Cross.
The Red Cross still needs support. This is why the REWE Group is continuing to urge its employees to donate to the German and the Austrian Red Cross on their websites.
In addition to donating money, the REWE Group is supporting the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture in its efforts to provide food for the Ukrainian people. It has agreed to make up to 1,000 tons of food available as quickly as possible. The REWE Group's international subsidiaries in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Germany are cooperating closely in this effort, in order to meet the existing needs efficiently and keep distances as short as possible.
In Germany, REWE, PENNY, and toom, as well as REWE merchants, are also supporting a wide variety of relief efforts by municipalities, partner organisations, NGOs, churches, and local initiatives.
The municipality of Erlensee wanted to help the people in Ukraine quickly and easily. Employees from the Glockenbrot and Brandenburg production companies and REWE salesman Michael Reising took part in the local aid campaign.
Konrad Krzyzinski and Björn Winterhalter
On Sunday morning, the Management Board gave the go-ahead, and on Monday the aid convoy set off from Erlensee with 15 lorries bound for Hruszowice in Poland. Two 40-tonne trucks were loaded with food from the production plants and from REWE merchant Michael Reising.
Brandenburg and Glockenbrot had provided sausage products such as Wiener and Pfefferbeißer as well as long-life homemade sausage and hunting sausage, bread and toast at short notice. In a sensational team effort, Brandenburg and Glockenbrot employees prepared the goods over the weekend so that the urgently needed food could be loaded quickly and delivered to the people affected by the war in Ukraine.
Collection point in REWE merchant Michael Reising's store
REWE retailer Michael Reising had set up a collection point in his store where customers could hand in clothes and sleeping bags as well as food donations. He also donated long-life products, resulting in a total of 17 pallets of food and donations.
Konrad Krzyzinski from the Brandenburg vehicle fleet in Frankfurt and Björn Winterhalter, IT Manager Service Production Operations, drove the almost 1,300 kilometres from Frankfurt to Hruszowice in Poland together in a Brandenburg truck and brought the vital relief supplies to the crisis area.
1. FC Köln took part in the Bundesliga home match against TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday (6 March 2022) in a special jersey and used this gesture to call for an end to the war in Ukraine. Instead of the REWE lettering, the FC professionals wore the words "STOP WAR" on their chest. In addition to supporting numerous aid organisations in the war region and in Cologne, both FC and its partners thus sent a further visible signal of solidarity with the people in Ukraine.
Dr Sven Spork, Divisional Director of Corporate Affairs at REWE Group, explained: "The appeal to end this cruel war immediately cannot be loud enough. That's why it also belongs on the chest of the FC. At REWE, we are also making an urgent appeal to help the people in Ukraine and the refugees as quickly and comprehensively as possible."
FC player Anthony Modeste with "Stop War" jersey
"After taking part in the peace demonstration on Rose Monday, the FC family will send another clear signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end this criminal war immediately with the special jersey during the home game on Sunday," explained FC managing director Philipp Türoff in the run-up to the game. "The corner flags and the pylons of the RheinEnergieStadion will be draped in the colours of Ukraine, Jonas Hector will wear a captain's armband with the peace symbol, there will be a minute's silence and we will call for donations to the FC Foundation for the German-Ukrainian association Blau-Gelbes Kreuz e.V. on banners. We appeal to all FC fans to support our commitment to the people in Ukraine with a very personal contribution."
DEVK has also dispensed with its logo. It will be replaced by the peace symbol. The match ended 0:1 in favour of Hoffenheim.
The entire REWE Group team is deeply affected and stunned by the war in Ukraine - a country in which it itself was present and active in the food trade for many years until 2020. We are determined to help quickly, effectively and reliably where support is most urgently needed. In the current situation, REWE Group companies are therefore helping to supply people in need in Ukraine and refugees by providing food and other everyday necessities locally.
We are using our capacities in Germany and Austria, but above all also in Lithuania, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and Croatia, to provide food as well as drugstore and hygiene products in order to help quickly, efficiently and in line with needs together with international aid organisations.
Supplies for people in need in Ukraine are currently concentrated primarily in the countries on or near the border with Ukraine, where REWE Group is active:
- PENNY in Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic,
- BILLA in Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and
- IKI in Lithuania.
We provide urgently needed goods in these countries with correspondingly short lead times and transport routes - in close cooperation with the major international aid organisations, with most of which we already have a long-term partnership. In addition, our country organisations implement further individual aid measures as required - from donations in kind and appeals for donations to social support for the families of Ukrainian employees.
Red Cross donation campaign - fast and proven help
Of course, we are also active in and from Germany and Austria: as first aid, lorries from aid organisations in Germany and Austria are already on their way to Ukraine and border regions with basic care packages.
The Red Cross is providing humanitarian aid to care for people in Ukraine as well as to support people arriving in neighbouring countries. We are also preparing for the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Germany and Austria. Donations are needed for all of this. This is also supported by our colleagues in Germany and Austria as well as the company itself via specially established Red Cross accounts in Germany and Austria. These accounts can, of course, also be used by anyone who would like to contribute to the Ukraine relief efforts of REWE Group and the Red Cross.
In addition, the arrival of refugees in Austria and Germany is accompanied by parcels for daily needs. In Vienna, goods vouchers will be handed over as initial aid via the Ukrainian embassy.
First aid parcels for arriving refugees are also available in Cologne. The logistics are being supported by toom Baumarkt DIY store and REWE Group Logistics, which are providing storage materials, pallet trucks and trolleys, among other things. REWE Group is directly supporting the Cologne-based association "Blau-Gelbes Kreuz", a German-Ukrainian organisation, and is working closely with 1. FC Köln, which is also committed to helping people who have fled from Ukraine.
In addition, REWE Group and its companies, retailers and employees are also involved in a wide range of local and regional initiatives organised by NGOs, clubs, associations and parishes.
All measures are constantly being further developed, adapted to the respective needs in the country and - together with REWE Group employees and customers - continuously expanded.
We will keep you informed about further measures and campaigns here on an ongoing basis from now on

As the question often arises as to whether one of the numerous donation organisations available would be particularly suitable for supporting the Ukrainian
Population, we have set up special donation accounts for the REWE Group with the Red Cross in Germany and Austria .
When the first people who have fled the war in Ukraine arrive in Cologne in the next few days, they will be provided with aid packages containing food donated by REWE. PENNY has also donated food for the numerous helpers who are looking after the people from Ukraine. The logistics of the aid are supported by toom Baumarkt DIY store and REWE Group Logistics, which are providing storage materials, pallet trucks and trolleys, among other things. REWE Group is directly supporting the Cologne-based "Blue-Yellow Cross" association, a German-Ukrainian organisation, with this aid and is working closely with 1. FC Köln, which is also committed to helping people who have fled from Ukraine.
Lionel Souque, CEO of the REWE Group, explained: "As a company, we are not only organising emergency aid and food deliveries for the many refugees arriving in these countries and in Poland with our foreign companies in Austria, Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia and Hungary. But we are also involved here in Cologne, at the headquarters of our group of companies. We are helping the refugees from Ukraine with donations and the personal commitment of our employees and are very happy to have strong partners in the Blue-Yellow Cross and 1. FC Köln."
In response to the current situation, the REWE Group is providing food and other essential goods on the ground to support people in need in Ukraine, as well as those fleeing the country. The efforts are being led by the REWE Group's organisations in the countries neighbouring Ukraine:
- PENNY in Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic
- BILLA in Slovakia and the Czech Republic
- IKI in Lithuania
These organisations are supplying much needed food, toiletries, and hygiene products with short lead times and minimal transportation. Working alongside the highly effective relief organisations in the respective countries, they are ideally positioned to identify the precise needs on the ground. Close collaboration with partner organisations in the countries in question also allows aid to be distributed as efficiently as possible to the territory of the Ukraine and to the refugees arriving in the countries.

Many people have asked about which charities are best suited to providing specific support to the Ukrainian people, and after careful consideration, we have decided to create special
donation accounts for the REWE Group with the Red Cross in Germany and Austria. The accounts are in the process of being set up, and details will be communicated once they are active.
In addition to this extensive engagement in the immediate vicinity of Ukraine, the REWE Group in Germany and Austria - and REWE's retailers in particular - are also supporting numerous relief activities being planned or undertaken by private individuals, clubs, NGOs, and church groups, such as relief convoys and other aid efforts. By their very nature, however, these types of initiatives cannot be centrally coordinated, as it would be neither appropriate nor practical to do so in the current situation. Individual relief efforts of this kind are often based on trusting, first-hand relationships with the local organisers and would not be manageable on a group-wide basis. However, these efforts are crucially important for providing assistance to the stricken population in and from Ukraine.
In light of the situation, the focus of the REWE Group's centralised response will continue to be the relief efforts in the Central and Eastern European countries in question until further notice. This is where we can currently best ensure that help arrives quickly where it is so urgently needed.
Both German and English comments appear here.
I know from my own experience how wide the gap is between rich and poor even before the war in Ukraine. This makes it all the more important - whether centrally or regionally controlled - to make donations for people who cannot flee: Orphans, the elderly and the sick......
Very nice. O.M