Mercer supports flood victims in Germany with construction dryers

Arneburg, August 5, 2021 – Mercer has been fortunate this year. As regions in Germany are affected heavily by the flood disasters in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, our sites in Rosenthal and Saalburg-Ebersdorf have been left largely untouched. But seeing the images of the current situation brought back memories of the Elbe flood disaster in 2013, which carried a great impact on our communities. Because of this, Mercer took action; using 15,000 euros, Mercer Timber Products purchased professional construction dryers, making them available to those affected with the support of various companies.

“It’s really hard to describe the gratitude felt here,” says Alexander Gebele, describing the situation on the ground in the disaster area. It was through the managing director of Holtec, a supplier to Mercer, that Mercer Timber Products came into contact with those affected in the Eifel region.

Mercer Timber Products and Mercer Holz, in cooperation with wood2M, arranged for aid to the communities in the purchase of the construction dryers. Mercer Timber Products invested these in 14 dryers from the Czech Republic and quickly made them available to those affected. From there, they can be used to dry masonry walls of the houses, shared with those who need them. “The first reaction to our call to assess the needs of those affected was, ‘Yes, it’s like Christmas with having a dryer,'” Gebele describes further.

The Mercer companies based at our Arneburg site chose to help in a different – in fact, two different ways. Employees were asked to contribute to a donation fund to the affected communities. Once campaign has been completed, the Arneburg companies will add to the amount raised by their team members, making the funds available via “Aktion Deutschland hilft”.

A heating oil tank in the basement of this family from Schweinheim was flooded but thanks to Mercer’s donation, the first remediation work can hopefully begin soon.