Margit Pollheimer thanked ORF for the award and for the high profile this has given to the Don Bosco Flüchtlingswerk and its work; she added that her work had always been supported by the help of many volunteers who have worked with her in the Centre and by the private donations of a good number of benefactors.
Present at the Award Ceremony were many of her relatives and friends and numerous representatives of the Salesian Family: Salesians, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians , young people from the Centre and from Jugend Eine Welt, and in particular Fr Rudolf Osanger, Austrian Provincial, Sr Maria Maxwald FMA Provincial and Dr Reinhard Heiserer, Director of “Jugend Eine Welt”.
The President of the Flüchtlingswerk, Fr Bernhard Vondrasek, remarked: “Margit is committed to the young people entrusted to her care and always very close to them. She has been working, constantly developing our projects with a great sense of responsibility and creativity.”
The Don Bosco refugee Centre has been operating in Vienna since 2004 and looks after 15 young unaccompanied refugees, as they await the processing off their request for asylum. During the last six years, 120 youngsters from various countries have found a welcome , protection and support there.
Mrs Pollheimer and the professional staff of the Centre provide 24 hours care for the young people helping them grow in human terms and receive an education. The Centre is supported economically by the Salesians, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and by the Salesian NGO “Jugend Eine Welt”.
Margit Pollheimer was born in 1976 at Mödling, near Vienna. After leaving school she worked with the Salesians in Ecuador and in Mexico in various Salesian centres for street children. This experience has served her well in her subsequent academic and professional career: education and integration in society are the two fundamental objectives in her work with young refugees.
Published 25/06/2010
