pme donates: Moments of joy
Last year, pme Familienservice surprised various social projects with a donation. One of these was nestwärme Freudenmomente. Nestwärme stands for inclusion and solidarity, for togetherness, community and security for all. With these moments of joy, the association creates special, inclusive experiences for the whole family - for children living with a disability or chronic illness, for their siblings and parents and, if necessary, for other relatives.
Inclusive experiences for the whole family
Natalie Krieger is the contact person for volunteering at nestwärme and the project manager of the nestwärme moments of joy. In this interview, she reveals what is behind the moments of joy, how the donation from pme Familienservice is used and how volunteers can get involved in the moments of joy.
Ms. Krieger, how did the nestwärme Freudenmomente project come about?
Natalie Krieger: In 1999, Petra Moske and Elisabeth Schuh founded the social enterprise nestwärme in Trier. During their voluntary work for families with disabled children, they recognized the great need for domestic support and relief.
Many families needed someone to look after the affected child or their siblings so that they could do other things. This gave rise to the "Zeitschenken" service, which places volunteers in families. Later, further locations were opened in Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Saarland.
During the coronavirus period, we repositioned ourselves in Munich and established the "moments of joy" format. Nestwärme has always stood for encounters and shared experiences, but this little detail was still missing. Every child has their own sense of joy, and a child with a disability is sometimes happy about different things than other children.
"During the moments of joy, we talk to the family to find out what the child's particular joy is. And then three or four volunteers sit down together and think about an outing, a theme for a birthday party or another experience for the child and their family."
The moments of joy are always a shared experience for families and volunteers. With us, the families help shape the event instead of just being the recipients. The volunteer element is also important to us. For example, when we celebrate a themed birthday, we don't just order costumes - we think of something to match the theme and do as much as possible ourselves: We bake, cook, do crafts and look for a suitable location.
Can you give us examples of moments of joy?
Moments of joy in nature or with animals are very popular. That's why we often visit sanctuaries or go on picnics in the countryside. We have a sanctuary here where there is a horse that you can also ride. We had a great experience with a severely disabled girl who was able to lie down with her whole body on a very calm horse. The mother said later that she had tears in her eyes because the horse owners were so sensitive to her and her child.
"For a birthday party, we once set up a barefoot course on the family's roof terrace. A wilderness educator brought materials from the forest, such as pine cones, and all the children were allowed to walk the course."
There was a moment of joy in Düsseldorf where chickens had to take center stage. This took place on a farm with chickens, with matching invitation cards and costumes - all under the motto "chickens".
Are the moments of joy one-off events or do they also create longer-term bonds with the families?
We invite the families to stay in touch with us and take part in the summer party or the Christmas party, for example. We also receive a quota of tickets for a cultural event once a quarter through a cooperation with KulturRaum München gGmbH. We then invite volunteers and families to a cultural moment of joy. We recently visited the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. In this way, the bilateral offer of moments of joy becomes a wonderful joint event for several families and volunteers.
What are your next plans and how can the donation from pme help?
On the one hand, we use the donation to finance the moments of joy . Sometimes there is the question of transportation, we need craft materials or food and drinks. We also use it to cover entrance and travel costs. The donation helps us to hold more Joyful Moments without running out of money.
Another important aspect is the recruitment of volunteers. The Munich Volunteer Fair recently took place, which plays a key role in recruiting volunteers. In order to present ourselves well there, we had attractive print materials produced - which is also a cost factor.
How can you get involved in the moments of joy? And what should interested parties bring with them?
We always need people to help us create moments of joy, to do handicrafts, bake muffins and make the occasional phone call. Then there is a role that is more difficult to fill: the so-called coordination. In other words, a dedicated person who wears the hat and keeps an eye on everything, who keeps in touch with the family and finds the special things that make the child happy. And then - together with the other committed people - sees how this can be implemented.
But sometimes it's just about being there and providing support. For example, we had a family who asked us for support for a network meeting about their child's specific illness. The volunteers didn't have to prepare anything for this, they simply had to see where help was needed, put away the dishwasher and the like.
How much time should volunteers be able to contribute?
A moment of joy that the four of us carry out requires a time commitment of six to eight hours per person over a period of four weeks - i.e. two hours per week per person.
The more volunteers we have, the better we can distribute the roles and tasks. Then everyone only has to take on small tasks and doesn't feel overwhelmed. For us, however, it's not about the masses, but about the volunteers putting their hearts into it and wanting to get involved on a regular basis.
How can people find out about your work or get in touch with you?
Interested parties can find lots of information and insights on our website , Instagram and Facebook. If you are interested in our work, you can also send me an email directly to Natalie.krieger@nestwaerme.de
Social commitment of the pme Familienservice
The "pme donates" fundraising campaign has been running for four years, giving pme team members the opportunity to nominate charitable organizations in the areas of international development aid, social work, climate and animal protection and culture for a donation, which they actively support. All team members then vote for the organizations they want to support. The organizations with the most votes receive a donation from pme Familienservice. In 2024, six national and international organizations received a total of 50,000 euros in donations.
