The Reifenhäuser family donates €7,500 to the St. Klara hospice
Ulrich Reifenhäuser has particularly fond memories of the rounds of skat played together at the St. Klara hospice. A close friend of his was lovingly cared for there during the final stages of his life. This personal experience convinced the Reifenhäuser family council to support the St. Klara hospice with a donation of €7,500.
“It was very special for me to be in this house,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser at the donation handover. “The care and wishes of the guests are the top priority for the hospice staff. It was no problem at all that our joint skat games continued late into the evening. I was very impressed not only by the care, but also by the way they dealt with relatives and friends.”
The Reifenhäuser Group from Troisdorf dates back over 100 years and has been 100 percent family-owned since its founding in 1911. Brothers Bernd and Ulrich Reifenhäuser are now the third generation to run the group. Every year, the family supports local and charitable organizations and consults within the family council on donations for charitable causes.
Opened in 2016, the St. Klara hospice is located in the premises of the former elementary school on Viktoriastraße and is a place of life for its guests and their relatives. Guests have access to 13 single rooms with large, bright windows. The rooms are equipped with basic amenities and a bathroom suitable for disabled guests. Each guest can bring small pieces of furniture, pictures, and other personal items and furnish their room according to their own wishes.
The Reifenhäuser family already supported the hospice in 2019, enabling guests to receive aromatherapy treatments such as massages, baths, or wraps to relieve symptoms of pain, nausea, and other complaints. These and many other services, such as barbecues on the terrace, painting therapy, or animal therapy with therapy dog “Nala,” are not covered by health insurance. Health and nursing care insurance companies cover a large part of hospice care, but five percent of the operating costs must be financed by the hospice itself through donations. For the St. Klara Hospice, this currently amounts to around 250,000 euros per year to cover its own share and other costs.
The aim of hospice work is to accompany dying people and their relatives on this journey with dignity and comfort, says Martin Keßler, director of the St. Klara hospice. "It is very important to us that our work is recognized. A hospice is a non-profit organization where the care and support of dying people is the top priority. Donations enable us to continue our work with dedication and compassion."
“Based on our own experiences at the facility, we know that our donation will be put to the best possible use,” concludes Ulrich Reifenhäuser.
In the photo, from left to right: Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Jessica Holdefehr (fundraising/public relations, St. Klara), Ute Reifenhäuser, Martin Keßler (facility manager, St. Klara).
Picture Credit: Reifenhäuser
About the Reifenhauser Group
The Reifenhäuser Group together with its highly specialized business units is the leading provider of innovative technologies and components for plastics extrusion. Founded in 1911, the company is a global supplier of high-tech solutions. With its technologies and the know-how of its 1,500 employees, Reifenhäuser has the world's largest network of expertise in plastics extrusion technologies. The CEO of the Group is Bernd Reifenhäuser.
