This award was presented by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and was originally intended to be presented to Olaf Kleint at the district assembly of the Braunschweig-Salzgitter DRK district association. This event was canceled due to the pandemic.
However, Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel did not miss the opportunity to present Olaf Kleint with this extraordinary recognition of his voluntary services in person. On this occasion, he emphasized: "Voluntary commitment is the cement of our urban society. The countless aid organizations, volunteer fire departments and clubs in Salzgitter would be unthinkable without people like Olaf Kleint, who put their free time and heart and soul into their voluntary work. My thanks go to Olaf Kleint and all the members of the DRK Braunschweig-Salzgitter for their great work out of love for people."
Olaf Kleint is 50 years old, has been active in the Braunschweig-Salzgitter district association of the German Red Cross for 34 years and is currently a member of the board and executive committee, head of the district emergency services and sub-district representative of the district emergency services for the Lower Saxony regional association of the German Red Cross.
Back in the 1990s and 2000s, he gained a wealth of experience in missions and relief operations, which took him to Salzgitter's Russian twin town of Staryj Oskol, Romania and Kosovo, for example. Olaf Kleint is particularly active in staff work. In 1999, for example, he spent six weeks on the Kosovo crisis team of the German Red Cross and has since demonstrated his expertise in flood operations and numerous major events. As head of the district emergency team, he is also responsible for managing, training and equipping several DRK emergency units with more than 100 volunteer helpers.
Olaf Kleint himself says of his voluntary work and the DRK: "I really enjoy it, because the DRK is one big family. It is important to me to say that everything we have achieved is a team effort that we can be proud of in the DRK district association."
About the DRK district association Braunschweig-Salzgitter:
The DRK district association was formed in 2001 from the merger of the former Salzgitter and Braunschweig district associations. It currently has 5,640 members. The Youth Red Cross has 86 members.
In Salzgitter, the DRK district association employs around 100 people and operates a social care center, a day care center, a counseling center for people suffering from cancer, a supplementary independent participation counseling center (EUTB) and three day care centers.