How SIGers drive meaningful change worldwide
Across our sites and regions, SIGers are stepping up — supporting environmental conservation, empowering students through education, contributing to healthcare initiatives, rebuilding communities, planning charitable events, and so much more. This year, through the Future+ Ambassadors Network and the SIG Foundation, we’ve seen how deeply our employees care about strengthening communities and protecting the planet.
In the lead-up to this day, SIGers around the world have been sharing their ongoing volunteering journeys on the SIGer app using the hashtag #volunteerforbetter.
Learn about their stories
In Bangkok, Thailand, Busarakorn Kongkiewpun supports Banrachawadee, a home for children with multiple disabilities who have been abandoned and rely entirely on lifelong care. She helps run internal sponsorship campaigns, allocates resources to improve the children’s well-being, and raises awareness by promoting the organization’s mission and encouraging others to get involved.
Busarakorn highlights the urgent need for support: caregivers look after many children, and with only minimal resources, the organization is working towards providing more than basic daily necessities.
In Linnich, Germany, Sonja Bischoff has spent over 10 years volunteering with the Asylum Initiative Group – Initiativkreis Asyl Linnich, dedicating several hours each week to support refugee families.
She organizes community activities, helps families navigate healthcare and housing, advocates for their rights, and works with schools and authorities to ensure children have access to education and opportunities.
Sonja says the resilience of her fellow volunteers inspires her — and together, they strive to create a more welcoming and humane future.
From Northlake, US, John Santoyo volunteers in Cevicos, Dominican Republic with the Holy Family Mission, serving as a translator between English-speaking medical teams from the USA and the Spanish-speaking local population. Over the course of a week, he supports around 200 medical evaluations and facilitates communication between mission leaders and community authorities.
John describes the mission as a vital source of free medical care for people with very limited resources — including both local Dominican families and refugees from Haiti seeking assistance.
In Mönchengladbach-Hardt, Germany, Alexandra Terveer has been a dedicated volunteer with Tiertafel Pescherhof e.V. since 2011. She supports families and their pets through animal welfare education in schools, rescuing and neutering stray cats, and finding new homes for those that can be socialized.
Alexandra also leads fundraising efforts, organizes events, manages second-hand sales, and handles essential accounting to ensure food and veterinary care for animals in need. For her, volunteering is a true passion — one that brings protection, compassion, and hope to both animals and her community.
In upcountry Thailand, Pornpan Eiamanong volunteers with the Conservation of Goodness Volunteer Camp, supporting activities that protect nature, preserve culture, and strengthen communities. She has helped build check dams, spread seeds, teach in a Thai–Muslim friendship program, plant seagrass to support blue carbon, and grow rice for disaster preparedness.
Pornpan says the work is both exhausting and incredibly rewarding — the positive energy from teammates and the local community keeps her returning. She loves the guiding idea of the group: “Grow your mind by helping others and give quietly.”
Trixy Surber from Chilhowie, VA, volunteers with the Chilhowie Lions Club, assisting with meal preparation, donations, meal deliveries, and other community activities.
As a rural community, the Chilhowie Lions Club is dedicated to serving its neighbors, including providing free Thanksgiving meals to anyone in need. Through these efforts, volunteers like Trixy help foster a spirit of compassion and generosity in the community.
Currently located in Mexico, Mosharraf Hossan has been volunteering with the Al Amin Sports and Social Welfare Council since 2013, in Noakhali - Bangladesh, dedicating part of his time to community service. The NGO focused on supporting underprivileged people through education, healthcare, and relief work, while promoting sports to encourage discipline and positive values among youth.
Though small and village-based,it makes a meaningful impact through initiatives like Ramadan food distributions, flood relief, winter clothing donations, tube well installations, and book drives. Its consistent efforts help improve the lives of those in need, even without large-scale resources.
In Thailand, Narongsak Saraphong supports the non-profit organization Free Bird Group. What began over 20 years ago as small acts of generosity has grown into a movement providing education, infrastructure, and essential supplies to underprivileged.
Together with his colleagues Antie Sarakum and Dawjai Soipetprapa, Narongsak joined the group’s 2025 Volunteer Camp strongly believing every child deserves a chance to study, dream, and success. They spent time with the students and their families, laughing, playing games and sharing stories.
Every Saturday, Osmar de Carvalho Junior mentors teenagers from one of the poorest communities in Campinas through educational activities, group discussions, and life lessons at Plantando Sementinhas in Brazil. For four years, he has also supported community events.
“Volunteering has transformed my life,” he says. “It taught me gratitude, compassion, and the power of small actions to create meaningful change.”
Since 2020, Michael Baum has been volunteering at a children’s hospice Burgholz in Germany – reading, playing, and bringing joy to young guests. The hospice supports families with children facing life-shortening illnesses, offering care and much-needed respite.
He describes his volunteer work as an inspiring and precious part of his life, emphasizing that the hospice is far more than a place of farewell and mourning; it is also a place filled with care, connection, and meaningful moments.
SIGers on the move - meet Jean de Melo
SIGers on the move – meet Giovana Mashki
