Bertelsmann Aids Haiti

International media group Bertelsmann has donated euro 100,000 for emergency relief in Haiti.

The company says it’s a corporate response to the many calls for donations received by its companies, among them RTL Group channels, magazines published by the Gruner & Jahr printing and publishing house and Random House book publishers.

Donations will go to the children’s relief organization Plan International, which has been active in Haiti for years. It was chosen as Bertelsmann’s partner in bringing relief to victims of the severe earthquake because it performed a similar role for the German media giant in South China in May 2008.

“In view of the pictures now reaching us from Haiti, it is our duty as a socially responsible company to support the local emergency efforts with our means,” said Bertelsmann chairman and chief exec Hartmut Ostrowski. “The donations will go to help people – and especially children – who already live lives of poverty and need, and have now been additionally devastated by the earthquake.”