Donation of cash and food: U19s support Leverkusen food bank

The U19 players and members of the coaching staff were welcomed with open arms by the volunteers from the Leverkusen Tafel. They had previously worked as a team to load the numerous food items at the Leverkusen Metro and take them to the food bank, including pasta, flour, sugar, rice and tinned food. "I'm very proud of the boys. They appreciate their privileged situation and support people who are less fortunate," said assistant coach Hüzeyfe Doğan, delighted with the commitment and the additional voluntary support from the team's kitty.

Czarniecki: "Training the boys for life too"

The generous donation of food from their own pockets supplemented a cheque from UEFA for €1,000, which the U19s were able to pass on to a charitable organisation of their choice thanks to their participation in the Youth League. "This is a great initiative by UEFA. We're very pleased to be able to support a social project in the region," said Slawomir Czarniecki, head of the U16-U19 performance division, and also emphasised the educational component: "At Bayer 04, we want to train the boys not only in football, but also for life. They've learnt a lot today and I'm proud and grateful for their contribution to the campaign."

Contributing significantly to the successful learning experience were Dr Adolf Staffe, Reiner Endlein and Gudrun Schramm from Tafel Leverkusen e.V. - who, after some warm words of thanks - regaled the young players with a few anecdotes about the day-to-day work of the Tafel and its many volunteers. Endlein, vice-chairman of the Tafel, was touched: "It's wonderful that younger people are also supporting us." He sees the cooperation with Bayer 04 as "very important, especially because it gives us additional donations and more contact with people".

After the team and coaches had once again helped put the food away, they were given a short tour of the food bank's premises. Goalkeeper Jesper Schlich also thought it was an all-round good cause: "It was very impressive to see how much important work is done here. I'm glad that we as players and also as Bayer 04 are using our great opportunities for such a positive cause."

The group included Naba Mensah, Marton Szep, Nils Gernhardt, Ferdinand Pohl, Ken Izekor, Isaiah Eichie, Francesco Buono, Melis Djedovic, Emmanuel Chigozie Owen and Jesper Schlich from the U19 squad. The coaching staff were represented by assistant coach Hüzeyfe Dogan, goalkeeping coach Marco Kostmann and team mentor Marcel Podszus.

Bayer 04 and the Tafel: "A terrific collaboration"

Tafel Leverkusen e.V., which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has been able to rely on the active support of Bayer 04 since 2020. Whether through jersey raffles or donations from the club and fans on matchdays: Black & Red helps the organisation as often and in as many ways as possible. "It's a terrific collaboration. We at Bayer 04 are always trying to support the food bank in different ways,“ stressed Frank Linde, social affairs staff member at Bayer 04, who sees the campaign by the U19s and UEFA as an "important building block”.

Another one will follow at the Werkself's upcoming home game against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18.30 CET). As part of it, the club has once again called on fans and supporters to donate all kinds of food and toiletries for this good cause at the BayArena. "We're very much looking forward to these collections. We always receive so many nice donations, but also lots of kind words," said Linde. Fans can also purchase raffle tickets for the current jersey competition in the Fanwelt on the south side of the BayArena up to and including 29 November. The proceeds will also go to Tafel Leverkusen e.V.

About Tafel Leverkusen e.V.:

For 25 years, Tafel Leverkusen e.V. has been supporting more than 5,000 residents of Leverkusen in need by distributing food. The demand these days is also enormously high due to the increased cost of groceries. Bayer 04 is therefore asking all fans to take part in the collection campaigns and contribute food for those in need. The collection campaigns at Bayer 04 take place twice a season: right before Easter and shortly before Christmas.