How a corporate volunteering event in Berlin brought 100 employees together to support Berliner Tafel and assemble 1,200 menstrual care kits for the local community.
In May 2026, 100 employees from a Fortune 5 company came together in Berlin for a purpose-driven corporate volunteering experience with CTW Events.
Working side by side, employees assembled 1,200 menstrual care kits for Berliner Tafel, creating a practical way to support people experiencing hardship within the local community.
The event demonstrates how corporate meetings, team days and employee engagement activities can create value beyond the event itself. By connecting employees around a shared purpose, organisations can strengthen team connection while creating a tangible social impact that can be measured and communicated.
The result was simple and measurable: 100 employees. 1,200 menstrual care kits. One local community partner.
Event Impact Snapshot
Location: Berlin, Germany
Participants: Approximately 100 employees
Organisation: Fortune 5 company
Kits assembled: 1,200 menstrual care kits
Community partner: Berliner Tafel
Impact focus: Menstrual health and care access, employee engagement and local community support
Turning a Corporate Event Into Local Action
Corporate events create moments when people are already together.
That creates an opportunity to go beyond meetings, networking and team building by using that shared time to create a tangible social impact.
During the Berlin activation, employees worked side by side to assemble essential menstrual care products into 1,200 kits for Berliner Tafel.
For the organisation, the activity created a clear and measurable outcome. For employees, it offered a shared experience built around purpose. For the local community, it resulted in practical support through essential menstrual care products.
This is where corporate volunteering can add real depth to employee engagement. The experience matters in the moment, but so does the impact it leaves behind.
Why Menstrual Care Access Matters
Access to menstrual products is a practical issue that can affect dignity, wellbeing and the ability to manage everyday life with confidence.
A 2025 report from the European Parliamentary Research Service describes menstrual poverty as inadequate access to menstrual hygiene products and facilities. It notes that there is currently no standardised EU-wide dataset, but cites estimates suggesting that around 10% of people who menstruate in the EU experience period poverty, with people on lower incomes, refugees, young people and people with disabilities among those more likely to be affected. [1]
The same report highlights evidence from Germany. In one online survey, 23% of participants said the monthly cost of menstrual products represented a financial burden. [1]
The challenge goes beyond access to products alone. Menstrual poverty can also involve limited access to suitable sanitation facilities, hygiene education, handwashing facilities and safe waste management. These barriers can make everyday life more difficult and can affect education, work and wider social participation. [1]
Against this backdrop, providing essential menstrual care products through trusted community organisations offers a practical way to support people who may otherwise struggle to access them.
Supporting Berliner Tafel and the Local Community
The 1,200 kits assembled during the event were prepared for Berliner Tafel, connecting the volunteering experience directly with the city in which employees were meeting.
Berliner Tafel forms part of Germany’s wider Tafel movement. According to Tafel Deutschland’s 2024 annual report, 975 food banks across Germany support approximately 1.5 million people affected by poverty. [2]
That local connection is important.
Rather than creating an employee activity where the eventual outcome feels distant or abstract, locally focused volunteering can help participants understand where their contribution is going and why it is needed.
For organisations operating across multiple cities or countries, this model can also create opportunities to connect wider corporate responsibility objectives with the communities surrounding their employees, meetings and events.
Why Purpose-Driven Employee Engagement Matters
The Berlin activation also reflects a broader question for organisations: how can employee experiences create stronger connections between people, company values and meaningful action?
Purpose does not automatically create employee engagement, and a single volunteering event should not be presented as a solution to wider workplace culture challenges.
However, research suggests there is a significant relationship between employees experiencing purpose in their work and their level of engagement.
In a nationally representative 2025 study of 4,475 working adults in the United States, Gallup and Stand Together found that employees reporting a strong sense of purpose at work were 5.6 times as likely to be engaged as employees reporting a low sense of purpose. [3]
The research also found that employees were more likely to experience purpose when they could see how their work contributed to an important outcome and how their role connected with the wider mission of their organisation. [3]
Corporate volunteering provides one practical opportunity to make that connection visible.
Employees are not simply told about a company’s social commitments. They are given the opportunity to participate in them.
More Than Traditional Team Building
The strongest corporate volunteering experiences should create value on more than one level.
For employees, they can provide a shared hands-on experience outside normal working routines.
For organisations, they can support employee engagement, corporate responsibility and social-impact objectives while producing tangible outcomes that can be communicated internally.
For community partners, they can provide useful items and resources aligned with an identified local need.
The Berlin event brought those elements together through one straightforward activity.
Participants worked collaboratively. A measurable output was created. A local organisation was supported. Employees could see the result of their contribution before leaving the event.
That combination is what can turn a corporate activity into something more meaningful.
What CTW Events Supports
CTW Events works with organisations to integrate purpose-driven activities into corporate events, meetings, conferences, off-sites and employee engagement programmes.
Depending on the event and location, experiences can include the assembly of essential hygiene products, menstrual care items, school supplies and other resources for community organisations.
CTW Events can support the planning, materials, logistics, event delivery and charity coordination required to bring these experiences together.
The objective is to make participation straightforward for the organisation while ensuring there is a clear connection between the activity taking place and the impact it is intended to support.
The Berlin activation is one example of how this can work in practice.
100 employees came together.
1,200 menstrual care kits were assembled.
And one corporate gathering created an opportunity to support the surrounding community.
Key Takeaways
- Approximately 100 employees participated in the Berlin volunteering experience.
- Employees assembled 1,200 menstrual care kits for Berliner Tafel.
- The activity connected employee engagement with a tangible local community outcome.
- Menstrual poverty continues to affect people across Europe, particularly those experiencing financial or social vulnerability.
- Purpose-driven activities can give employees a practical opportunity to participate in an organisation’s wider social-impact commitments.
Create an Event That Matters
Corporate meetings and events already bring people together.
CTW Events helps organisations use those moments to create something that can extend beyond the room.
Whether you are planning an employee event, conference, leadership meeting, off-site or corporate volunteering activation, CTW Events can help you develop a purpose-driven experience aligned with your team, location and impact objectives.
Ready to explore what your next event could achieve?
Request a customised quote from CTW Events
Together, we can do more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is corporate volunteering?
Corporate volunteering gives employees structured opportunities to contribute their time and effort towards community or social-impact activities, often supported or organised through their employer.
Can corporate volunteering be included in a conference or corporate event?
Yes. Corporate volunteering activities can be incorporated into conferences, team days, leadership meetings, employee engagement events and other corporate gatherings. Activities can be designed around the available time, number of participants, location and intended community impact.
What is a menstrual care kit build?
A menstrual care kit build is a hands-on volunteering activity in which participants assemble essential menstrual and personal care products into kits for distribution through an appropriate community or charity partner.
How can corporate volunteering support employee engagement?
Corporate volunteering can give colleagues an opportunity to work together around a shared outcome outside their normal roles. Research from Gallup has found a strong association between employees experiencing purpose at work and higher employee engagement, although engagement is influenced by many wider organisational factors. [3]
Can CTW Events organise corporate volunteering in Germany and Europe?
CTW Events delivers purpose-driven corporate experiences internationally, including activations across Europe. Event format, logistics, kit type and charity coordination depend on the location, participant numbers and specific requirements of each event.
Sources
[1] European Parliamentary Research Service (2025). Addressing menstrual poverty in the EU.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2025/772855/EPRS_BRI(2025)772855_EN.pdf
[2] Tafel Deutschland (2024). Annual Report 2024.
https://www.tafel.de/fileadmin/media/Englische_Informationen/Tafel_Deutschland_Annual_Report_2024.pdf
[3] Gallup (2025). Purposeful Work Boosts Engagement, but Few Experience It.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/697403/purposeful-work-boosts-engagement-few-experience.aspx