Schalksmühle, 29 January 2016. Following the spectacular exposure of a week-long theft of metal at Factory 1 in Schalksmühle in December of last year, Lumberg is now setting a sign in a totally different direction: The company will be donating roughly 1.5 tons of metal worth over 8,000 euros which is recycled and repurposed after the punching process, to Verein zur Förderung internationaler Jugendarbeit und Projekte e.V. (VDIJB e.V.), a Münster-based charity dedicated to promoting international youth projects which is chaired by the social education worker, Lothar Wypyrsczyk.

The association was founded in December 1994 by 25 foreign and 28 German youngsters together with five adults. Their motto: International encounters start on your own doorstep (Internationale Begegnung fängt vor der eigenen Tür an). This independent sponsor of youth care projects in Münster has been recognized since 1995 and is particularly committed to the integration of foreign youngsters, and more recently especially to young refugees. At the very top of the agenda is a sense of togetherness and the meaningful mediation of skills beyond the monotony experienced at their refugee accommodation. One way to achieve this is by learning how to handle metal through sculpturing. This is where the young adults from many different nations join their German peers to acquire such fundamental skills as filing, sawing, welding and bending in an atmosphere of togetherness. The program, which has been running for years now, was already able to find craftsman apprenticeships for several young people.

“Our material will be used by the young refugees to create artistic cast resin pictures and metal compositions to be hung onto the wall. Currently, students are being selected for the creative design in cooperation with Münster’s Design Faculty of the University of Applied Sciences”, is how Meike Schmidt, managing partner of Lumberg Group, describes the status of the art project.

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