Getting hands-on in the crisis - Daimler Financial Services employees help out in the troubled Kreuzberg area of Berlin

Berlin. Even during the current crisis, the employees of Daimler Financial Services, which has its headquarters on the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, are taking toolboxes in hand to bring practical assistance to troubled neighborhoods. DFS is the financial services provider of Daimler AG. Today, more than 200 bank employees from DFS headquarters in Berlin and Mercedes-Benz Bank are renovating the Statthaus Böcklerpark center for young people and families in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin during the company's Day of Caring.

"We won't let the current economic situation stop us from doing community service and being good neighbors," says Jürgen Walker, CEO of Daimler Financial Services AG, who is actively participating in the campaign together with his fellow members of the Board of Management. "Especially in the midst of a crises, it's clear to see which companies take their social responsibilities seriously."

After all, genuine social commitment does not limit itself to donations - it means getting directly involved. The company gives its employees this day off so that they can volunteer their skills for a good cause. It's a day that shows how much 200 people working together can accomplish. Some of the volunteers are painting and doing construction work, moving in new furniture and installing facilities, while others are planting trees and shrubs, painting benches and building new seating areas.

"In earlier times we would not have needed this kind of large-scale involvement by a company," says Horst Panick, the director of Statthaus Böcklerpark. "But today we need it more than ever before." Statthaus Böcklerpark is an important center of support for many children, young people, and families in a neighborhood that is one of the poorest in Germany.

The Day of Caring event in Berlin is being staged by Daimler Financial Services for the fourth time. Day of Caring initiatives are also taking place in other countries where the company is represented - most recently in Mexico, Romania, Indonesia, and South Africa. Last October, employees of the subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Bank extensively renovated the "JimPazzo" youth center in Stuttgart. The next dates for the initiative have already been scheduled. These one-day campaigns will take place in Turkey, Thailand, New Zealand, Korea, and Poland.