DHL has partnered with the Special Olympics’ European Summer Games that are being held inAntwerp, Belgium, this year between 9-20 September, with Deutsche Post DHL employees participating
in this sporting event as volunteers as part of the company’s Global Volunteer Day.As a privileged sponsor of the event, DHL is providing general logistics support for the games.Some 2,000 athletes and 1,000 coaches from 58 European and Eurasian countries are competing in 10Olympic disciplines in different locations in and close to the city.
Before the games started, all the participants have been staying with host families in 50different cities and towns in Belgium. During the competition (14 – 20 September), they are allstaying at the Olympic village in Mol, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp.As part of DHL’s support for the games, more than 250 volunteers delivered the baggage of allathletes from the host towns to the Olympic village in Mol.
“The response in Belgium for this event has been remarkable, and I am proud that so manyemployees have signed up as volunteers. This is a true testimony of the passion that our employeeshave for these types of group-wide initiatives, going beyond day-to-day operations and lendingtheir spare time to a great cause”, Karel Van Ellinkhuizen, CEO of DHL Supply Chain BeNeLux,said.
The Special Olympics, which is officially supported by the International Olympic Committee(IOC), was founded in 1968 with the aim of organising sport activities for people with intellectualdisabilities. It has developed into a major global organisation representing over 4 millionathletes in 178 countries. The World Summer & Winter Games are organised every four years, aswell as International Regional Games such as the European Summer Games, which are held in Belgiumthis year.
Deutsche Post DHL employees began dedicating volunteer time to local projects in 2008. In 2011,this idea turned into an official volunteer day conducted around the world, with the activitiesbeing coordinated worldwide on the group level. Individual projects are implemented at the countryand regional levels to meet local needs.
“This year we have chosen this special project for very special people. We give our full supportto this event, Games of the Heart. For many years, we have participated in several projects withlogistic support and volunteers. This allows our employees to really put Deutsche Post DHL’s ‘Living Responsibility’ mission into practice,” Danny Van Himste, Managing Director of DHL ExpressBeLux, added.
