This year has marked the seventh edition of Baloise for Life in Belgium. Baloise employees have been organising the event since 2014: “We wanted employees to play a more active role in the donations process, allowing us to join forces for a good cause and promote cross-departmental collaboration,” explains Koen Van Dyck, one of the co-founders of Baloise for Life. This year, the campaign raised EUR 92,000 for charitable organisations!
Normally, the various events are held on-site, but this year’s campaign is an exception, with all events going virtual. Another new feature is the fact that business partners have also been invited to participate this year – allowing us to strengthen our collaboration with our partners and join forces for a good cause.
«This year, donations are more important than ever before. At the same time, we aim to use the Baloise Life events to foster a sense of togetherness among employees and partners in these times where physical contact is limited.»
As a good corporate citizen, we are bound by social responsibility for society at large. We offer protection, security and cash flow for the economy, whatever the situation, and are actively committed to supporting various charitable organisations.
Employees and partners were able use a whole series of events, such as Fit for Charity, Santa Workout and eYoga with our partner B-Tonic, virtual coffee breaks with colleagues or a quiz for the whole family, to collect “hearts”. Every time an employee or partner attended an event, we awarded them a symbolic heart that was added to our donations barometer.
By the end of the week, more than 50,000 hearts had been collected - which we converted into hard cash: Together with sponsors and partners, we were able to reach the total donation of 92,000 euros. The total proceeds will be donated in full to more than 30 charitable organisations supported by the Music for Life and Viva for Life initiatives, as selected by our employees.
The tradition of Christmas charity continues in all of our other locations, too. In Basel, we opened the city’s biggest Advent calendar in the windows of our new Group Head Office. We are also donating 24 vouchers for the garden centre operated by the Stiftung Lehrbetriebe beider Basel vocational training foundation as part of a competition. We are supporting the Fondation Autisme Luxembourg by offering our employees hampers of home-made products made by the foundation especially for us in four workshops. In Germany, our trainees are collecting money for the Ring gegen Krebs cancer charity, with the Executive Committee doubling the amount donated at the end of the campaign.
Our social commitment is not limited to the Christmas season. We donate to social organisations and are involved in partnerships with environmental and health organisations all year round. You can find more information on our commitment in this article.