On February 1st, the Adventist community center, in Gunzenhausen, with the “Wolkenflitzer” daycare center was ceremoniously inaugurated. The celebratory service was held under the motto “You are important. We are here.”
According to a statement by the AWW, this motto is also the leitmotif of the Advent Welfare Association (AWW), the social welfare organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany and the provider of the daycare center in Gunzenhausen.
The newly built “Wolkenflitzer” daycare center, in Gunzenhausen, was opened on December 6th. Guests at the celebratory service included personalities from the city of Gunzenhausen, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bavaria and the Adventist congregation in Gunzenhausen, from the South German Building Association (which manages the real estate of the church in southern Germany), as well as the management of the AWW. The children and parents of the facility, with their teachers, were also among the day's guests.
Welcome words
Wolfgang Dorn, president of the Adventist Church in Bavaria, centered his sermon on about Jesus' parable of the leaven, highlighting that everyone can contribute to making the place where one lives a little better. Churches, in particular, should be a place of life and a very special meeting space for families. The new community rooms are a successful combination of the devotion and silence of a church, and the animated life of a daycare center.
Volkmar Proschwitz, Executive Chairman of the AWW, recalled the many discussions with the city, which were always characterized by a friendly and benevolent atmosphere and, which, ultimately led to the success of this joint project.
Mayor Karl-Heinz Fitz expressed his great relief that, with the opening of the new daycare center, the city had, once again, done a good deal of its homework. More daycare centers are being built in the district to meet the need for daycare places.
About the “Wolkenflitzer” Gunzenhausen daycare center
The AWW facility offers 12 crèche and 50 daycare places in three care groups, with a total of 670 square meters on two floors. The playground area in the outdoor area is also generously sized at around 600 square meters. The construction of the daycare center cost a total of 4.6 million euros, of which the Free State of Bavaria contributed 1.8 million euros, and the city of Gunzenhausen, one million euros. The remaining funds were raised jointly by the South German Building Association, the Adventist Church, and the AWW as the sponsor.
The AWW hopes that the new community center and daycare will be a real success. Not only do children need living spaces, but society does, too. The churches could see their future task here and contribute their strengths as community and life centers to society, according to the AWW statement.
Advent Welfare Association e. V. (AWW)
The AWW was founded in Hamburg, in 1897, as a social work representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In Germany, it operates standard daycare centers, a special education daycare center, a facility for addiction counseling and treatment, and an overnight shelter for homeless women. In addition, the Advent Welfare Association e.V. is the main shareholder of several non-profit organizations, including senior citizens' homes, hospices, a residential facility for people with disabilities, and a school. The AWW also supports numerous volunteer-run projects for refugee and integration assistance. Self-help groups for people suffering from addiction are also run by the Adventist social work organization.
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