To mark 75 years of Porsche sports cars, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer initiated an extensive fundraising campaign during the Le Mans 24-hour race: For each of the race laps completed by the three factory Porsche 963 racers, 750 euros went into a special funds in support of the “Racing for Charity” campaign. The Porsche Penske Motorsport hybrid prototypes completed a total of 733 laps at the 100th anniversary of the world’s largest endurance event. On the occasion of its anniversary, Porsche topped up the donated amount of 549,750 euros to 911,000 euros. The money will go to three charitable organisations.

The associations Kinderherzen retten and Interplast Germany e.V. will each receive 350,000 euros from the special funds raised by the “Racing for Charity” campaign. The money will be used to help children from developing and crisis regions who suffer from heart disease, injuries, deformities or burns. The remaining 211,000 euros will go to the Ferry Porsche Foundation, which was launched in May 2018 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Porsche brand. Thanks to donations from “Racing for Charity”, some of the load on seriously ill children and their families will be lifted so that they can enjoy some lighter moments.

“Porsche has always faced up to its social responsibilities as a company. Now, with the ‘Racing for Charity’ initiative, we’ve successfully implemented this maxim in motorsport for the first time,” explains Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, Research and Development. “To put even more emphasis on our commitment, we have increased the original donation amount of 549,750 euros to 911,000 euros. We’re certain that our support for the three charitable initiatives Kinderherzen retten e.V., Interplast Germany e.V. and Ferry Porsche Foundation once again underlines the fact that motorsport and people are a central part of our DNA. At Porsche, social responsibility doesn’t stop at the factory gates. It goes far beyond that.”

On the day before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the organiser Automobile Club de l’Ouest awarded the “Racing for Charity” campaign first place in the “Sustainable Endurance Award”. Porsche’s extensive social commitment focuses on people. The sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart is committed to a wide range of aid initiatives, focusing on sustainable projects in the five core areas of sport, culture, environment and social issues as well as education and science. In this way, more than 150 sponsorship projects were supported around the world in 2022. As a result, Porsche helps shape the future of society – and aims to set benchmarks here, too.

“Many thanks to Porsche for initiating the ‘Racing for Charity’ campaign,” comments Professor Friedhelm Beyersdorf, founder of Kinderherzen retten e. V. “It’s a great honour that our initiative has been selected for this project. Above all, it’s fantastic for the children! We’ll use the money to bring children with heart defects or coronary diseases from underdeveloped countries to Freiburg. There, with just one operation, we will ensure that each child can lead a completely normal life and return to their home country. Afterwards, the kids will be as healthy as if they had never had heart problems to begin with. We not only treat existing heart diseases; we cure them completely. The donation thus directly benefits the quality of life of affected children and their families.”

“A huge thank you from our side as well to everyone who participated in the ‘Racing for Charity’ campaign,” explains Professor Jürgen Hermann Dolderer, board member of Interplast Germany e. V. “We provide plastic and reconstructive surgery to children and young people from crisis regions and developing countries. These are mostly congenital malformations, burns or deformities of the soft tissues that cannot be treated in such countries due to a lack of expertise and medical facilities. Our goal is to significantly improve the quality of life of children and adolescents. They’ll be able to go to school and start an education – in other words, simply survive. With our teams, we operate on around 100 children over 14 days during our missions to the respective regions. In addition, we train local surgeons and thus help them to help themselves and their communities.”

“We are delighted that the Ferry Porsche Foundation has been included as a donation recipient for the ‘Racing for Charity’ campaign,” says Dr. Sebastian Rudolph, Chairman of the Board of the Ferry Porsche Foundation. “Through our work at the Ferry Porsche Foundation, we’ve already been able to support over 400 projects and organisations in their charitable endeavours. As a foundation, we are particularly concerned about children and young people. With the donation from Porsche AG, we will support seriously ill children and their families, thereby making their lives a little more enjoyable.”