2024-07-26 13:34:18
Cordula Galster fires into the camera on her laptop. He was in a hotel room in Paris, waiting to be carried as a “volunteer” at the opening of the Olympic Games at the Pont Alexandre III. The woman from Frankfurt was one of 2,024 volunteers sent to the games by the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi. As one of the premium sponsors of the sporting event, the company, which also has a representative in Frankfurt, can offer its employees this opportunity. Workers from 54 countries took the opportunity to be close to sporting events. And socially. At least that’s how it was for 49-year-old Galster, who was one of 90 participants in the program from three German regions.
“Everybody has a mission,” Galster said. Yours is part of the process and means the presence of members of the national and international Olympic committees and representatives of the participating countries – also heads of state and crown princes who present the medal to their Olympians. “At the opening we had to admit 8,000 honored guests to their seats.” A job assigned to him after he was established as a participant. And that was early, because Galster was the one who coordinated the selection and deployment for the German “Sanofians”. Because it’s not your first time there. He had already worked as a volunteer at the Olympic Games in 2012 – albeit as a private person – in London, where he was working for the company at the time.
The spirit of the community at the Olympics in Paris
This allows you to contribute your knowledge when it comes to selecting participants. “We want all areas to be reflected among the volunteers,” explained the woman, who came from human resources but now works as the Head of Operational Improvement in production and production. The selection process was developed with the human resources department and the work committee. “When we advertised an internal call for volunteers to our employees, we received a surprising number of applications,” says the website of the company, which has more than 6,000 employees in Frankfurt alone. This is seen as “proof that the spirit of community and social responsibility is alive and well in our company.” The great response could also be due to the fact that the volunteers were released from their regular work for two weeks, their travel was paid for and a hotel room was provided in Paris.
Even if these are not vacation days on the road, but possibly challenging missions – the idea of experiencing the rewards as close as hardly anyone else is clearly appealing. Galster had already experienced it during his volunteer work in London: “As soon as you put on the clothes, you become the attention of the participants. The feeling of impact is immediate and incredibly fulfilling.
Sanofi sees the voluntary program as a start. “We plan to regularly share stories and highlights from our volunteers,” the company said. The 2024 Paris Games are not just about sport: “It’s about courage, resilience, teamwork and having an impact on the world.” They want to use the powers of the Paris Games to “make science more accessible and meaningful to everyone”. After all, science and sports have a lot in common, the argument goes: “Like athletes exercise, we overcome obstacles to move forward.”
This clearly motivates the workers. Commenting on his commitment, Anand Kumar, a scientist at Sanofi, said: “It is a dream to be able to join a group of dedicated and united volunteers to make this time an unforgettable experience for public and sportsmen.” And Annette Aulike , who works as a lawyer as Head of Human Development at Sanofi and is in the second group of 45 Germans in the Paralympic Games, talks about her mission at the Stade du France, where she should keep the Press representative: “It will be exciting. It will be great to be able to look behind the scenes of such a major international sporting event and actually work on it. The fact that Sanofi, as my employer, makes this possible for me is really something that is very important.” This also includes a program that supports volunteers with a business at the company’s headquarters in Paris.
Like all other Sanofi volunteers, Aulike has already completed online courses in order to prepare for all the eventualities of their assignment. This is an individual suited to the task, he reports. Volunteers are not able to choose them themselves, and the company has no influence on this either, as Cordula Galster explains. The tasks are selected by the French organizing committee based on questionnaires in which the selected volunteers have to provide information on language skills, social skills, physical law and much more.
Galster is also happy that his employer, as one of the four so-called employer sponsors, is making this project possible for him. Other companies have much smaller numbers of volunteer opportunities. And Sanofi was also able to give twelve employees a very prestigious task: to bring the Olympic flame to Paris as torchbearers. Galster is still there. The 39-year-old is well trained as he regularly participates in the Skyrun ladder matches in Frankfurt. He was very happy that when he chose the route, he did not take a country road near Sanofi, but rather 200 meters near Montmartre. It is possible because it has important points for social commitment because of its Olympic commitment in London.
Helicopters circled above the Volunteer
He learned about this happiness little by little, so to speak. He said: “In the beginning, I just accepted the day. A week ahead, then the meeting point: “5.30 Montmartre – amazing!” Your run starts at 9.15 You are also well prepared for this. “Even when you’re carrying the fire, kissing the music, every move has to be done right.” Because it is not possible in an easy way to carry the fire, instead of using your torch to get the fire from the one who has already carried it. You feel like a VIP when you stay; people want to take a selfie with you. “A couple even wanted to take a photo of me with their dog and torch.” Helicopters circling above him and a dozen security guards around him.
And then it begins. A little sad that we didn’t go up the stairs to the Sacré Coeur – the stage given to the French Comédienne – gone. “It makes me very proud to be the only German from Sanofi to be able to represent all colleagues in the torch relay,” he said. But it means even more to him: “For me, the torch represents world peace and understanding and that is more important than ever at this time.” Feeling while running: “Goosebumps – I’m close to tears.” on the Seine may make the bridge impossible to cross.
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