For 2001, the year marking the company´s 125th anniversary, Henkel decided to demonstrate its social commitment with a special program. A sum totaling 1.25 million euros was set aside to support 125 children´s projects  initiated by Henkel employees in 52 countries. The great success of this children´s initiative and the positive response on the part of employees convinced the management to earmark an additional one million euros for 2002.  

Henkel has asked its more than 46,000 employees in 75 countries all over the world to again submit proposals for the support of children´s projects in which employees do volunteer work.

The children´s projects were inspired by the MIT Initiative (Make an Impact on Tomorrow), which was established by Henkel in Düsseldorf in 1998 to support volunteer work on the part of its employees. Since then, more than 500 projects have been supported by committed Henkel employees in their free time “ and now the idea of the MIT Initiative is also being taken up by other Henkel companies around the globe.

The employee initiatives are a component in Henkel´s Corporate Citizenship Program , through which a large variety of social, ecological, cultural, scientific and sport projects are purposefully supported. Depending on just what is needed, financial resources or in-kind donations are provided, or employees are given time off to work on the project.