Merck Millipore Donates $10,000 to charity: water in Recognition of World Water Week

August 30, 2012, Darmstadt, Germany — Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, today announced a $10,000 donation to charity: water in recognition of World Water Week. As a leading supplier of products, services and solutions including water purification to the Life Science industry, access to clean water is an important charitable initiative for Merck Millipore. charity: water is a non-profit organization focused on bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. World Water Week, held this year from August 26 to September 1, provides a forum for conversation and best practices between scientific, business and political stakeholders concerning the ongoing clean water crisis in our global community.

“Through charity: water, we are able to see the direct impact of our donation on the people and communities that benefit from new-found access to clean water”, says Robert Yates Head of Merck Millipore. ”Providing clean water to those in need is important  to Merck Millipore, and our parent company, Merck KGaA. World Water Week is a great opportunity to focus on doing our part in alleviating this global issue.”

This is the third $10,000 donation Merck Millipore has made to charity: water. Over the past five years, Merck Millipore has supported four communities in India and Cote D’Ivoire, providing over 2,000 people with access to clean drinking water through rehabilitated wells in community centers and schools.  charity: water provides sustainable water solutions, supplementing water filtration systems with local water committees as well as education regarding clean water and hygiene.

“We’re incredibly grateful for Merck Millipore’s generous donation to help bring clean water to those in need. The timing couldn’t be better as we celebrate our 6th anniversary on September 7th with renewed spirit to help bring clean water to the people of Rwanda,” says charity: water founder and CEO, Scott Harrison. “The diversity of Merck Millipore’s projects—ranging from India to Cote D’Ivoire— sheds light on the global issue of clean water and their long-term investment in our water programs will insure their success for years to come.”

Merck Millipore’s charitable giving and community relations efforts focus on science, health care education and the environment, which are issues that are most connected to the company’s mission as a life science organization. Through multi-year partnerships with major charities and individual grants to smaller non-profits, Merck Millipore targets its funding to achieve the following objectives: support critical research aimed at mitigating and eradicating major diseases; expand access to health care services; strengthen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curricula in elementary and secondary education; increase access to higher education through scholarships, and encourage practices that support long-term environmental sustainability.  As a supplier of water purification products, Merck Millipore recognizes the need for clean drinking water in developing countries.

About Merck Millipore
Merck Millipore is the Life Science division of Merck KGaA of Germany and offers a broad range of innovative, performance products, services and business relationships that enable our customers’ success in research, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical drug therapies. Through dedicated collaboration on new scientific and engineering insights, and as one of the top three R&D investors in the Life Science Tools industry, Merck Millipore serves as a strategic partner to customers and helps advance the promise of life science.

Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, the division has around 10,000 employees, operations in 67 countries and 2011 revenues of EUR 2.4 billion. Merck Millipore operates as EMD Millipore in the U.S. and Canada.

Note: Merck KGaA or Merck shall mean Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

About charity: water  
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. We use 100% of public donations to directly fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now, 800 million people on the planet don’t have access clean and safe drinking water. That’s one in nine of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. Just $20 can give one person access to clean water.