History

Inspired by their faith, and with years-long passion for social development, Mr. and Mrs. Dake-van Noppen, founders of the cleaning company CEMSTO (1909), created the Haëlla Foundation in 1967, wanting to ‘give support where the need is greatest’. Convinced of the importance of striving for a new economic order and world peace, they established the foundation to help people with progressive, inspiring ideas and ideals to realize their plans to contribute to a fairer and better world.

Mrs and Mr Dake the founders of the Haëlla Foundation.

Geschiedenis

It seems to me that we must dare to think globally, even if we believe that achieving the goal we set will take one or more centuries,” said Mr A.G. Dake (1887-1979) when he founded the Haëlla Foundation with his wife, Mrs. Dake-van Noppen.

By 1967, The Haëlla Foundation (named for the initials of Mrs Helene Lucretia Anna Dake-van Noppen) was established. 

Several years later the  Stichting Haëlla Vermogensbeheer (HVB) was created. This separate foundation takes care of the asset management of the Haëlla Foundation, aiming to make yearly endowments which are as generous as possible, while preserving the capital and thus ensuring the work of the foundation in supporting innovative projects and activities for many years to come.

Mr A.G. Dake was a descendant of the Amsterdam business family Dake, which had been trading in pots and pans since 1826. At the beginning of the 20th century, an era of industrialization and domestic modernisation, the Dake company, located on Damrak and Kalverstraat, brought the latest in kitchen tools, vacuum cleaners, cleaning products and stoves to the Dutch market.

In 1909, Mr. Dake founded the Chemical and Mechanical Dust Control Enterprise (CEMSTO). This was the first cleaning company in the Netherlands, opening many branches in different cities over time.

Mrs. H. L. A. Dake died at age 88 in 1971. Mr. Dake died in 1979, he was 92. Until their deaths, the Dake couple was deeply involved in the foundation and the Dake family is still involved in the foundation to this day.

Cemstra

Lecture by Mrs. Heleen Th. Dake, daughter of the founders of the Haëlla Foundation (in Dutch)