Strong partnership for the region: Pascalstrassen Initiative and Städteregion focus on health-promoting campaigns
Aachen, 14th November 2024 – With a second successful blood donation campaign, the companies of the Pascalstrasse Initiative, in collaboration with the German Red Cross, once again demonstrated their commitment to promoting health. During the campaign at the premises of DSA Daten- und Systemtechnik GmbH, more than 100 blood donations were collected – a result that significantly exceeds the number of comparable campaigns. The campaign underlines the importance of the initiative of companies in the region to actively promote the health of the community in cooperation with the Aachen Städteregion (Aachen City Region).
The Aachen Städteregion supports this commitment. With the aim of continuing to contribute to the security of supply in the future, the managing directors of the Pascalstrasse Initiative companies, Dr Thomas Huth (DSA Daten- und Systemtechnik GmbH), Andreas Bauer (Bauer + Kirch GmbH) and Klaus Kisters (Kisters AG), met with Dr Michael Ziemons (head of the Aachen city region department responsible for the public health department, among other things) to plan further joint actions.
Contact between the Pascalstrasse Initiative and the Aachen Städteregion had been established during the coronavirus pandemic, when there was a shortage of vaccines and vaccination facilities. At that time, the IT companies in the south of Aachen had joined forces to enable employees and their family members to receive a first and second coronavirus vaccination quickly. Councillor Dr Michael Ziemons explains: "We are very grateful to the companies in the Pascalstrasse Initiative. Such actions show how much we can achieve together. It is also crucial to address the younger generation and to win them as supporters of health initiatives, such as the blood donation campaign. Only in this way can we ensure the supply of blood donations in the long term, for example."
"Working together as a community makes us stronger," emphasises DSA Managing Director Dr Thomas Huth. "And by offering employees the opportunity to donate during working hours, we were able to motivate a particularly large number of people willing to donate. In this way, we are setting an example in promoting health while helping the German Red Cross to attract new donors."
The German Red Cross provided the organisational framework for the blood donation campaigns. Georg Simon, a representative of the DRK Blood Donation Service West, emphasises the importance of such campaigns: "Donating blood is an act of solidarity – every contribution counts to support the lives of others. It is impressive to see how the companies in Pascalstrasse work together as a community and motivate people to stand up for their own and others’ health." Nationwide, 15,000 blood donations are needed every day. In times of shortages, the suppliers repeatedly have to resort to reserves that are then no longer available in the event of extraordinary circumstances. This highlights the importance of blood donation campaigns. In the two campaigns organised in Pascalstrasse so far, a large number of first-time donors have been recruited, with the aim of encouraging them to donate regularly in the long term.
With the various successful campaigns, the companies are sending a strong signal of community spirit and reaffirming their commitment to contributing to health promotion in the future. The date for the next blood donation campaign has already been set. On the 11th of September 2025, all employees at Pascalstrasse are once again invited to donate their blood for a good cause.
