Today, the family audiobook team was built close to the water – before stirring. We are impressed by how much a community can stand up for one person. And at the same time, a charity project will be launched. One of the participants of the Ruhr-Gymnasium Witten commented on this at our request. Mrs Rechmann writes:

I want to tell a story. It's a story about a community action for a strong, wonderful woman who, unfortunately, is seriously ill. 

One day I read in the newspaper about the family audiobook and the possibility of leaving memories for the children in case of a palliative diagnosis. I wanted to tell my colleague, who is affected herself, about it, but even before I could, she herself called for a fundraising campaign online for exactly this project. Many of our teachers have also seen this and were immediately ready to support the action. We wanted to actively work on the fact that the waiting times are not so long and applicants can be accepted into the project as soon as possible. So we contacted the family audiobook, wrote a letter to the entire college of our school to raise awareness of the topic and started several charity actions at the same time. Since we cooperate with two other high schools in Witten, we also brought them on board, requested donation boxes from the family audiobook, which were immediately set up in the secretariat and also at the summer concert of the Fachschaft Musik, advertising for the family audiobook was made and donations were collected.

Some grade 11 students who learned about the condition informed us that they would like to sell waffles and cakes to collect donations. That was an important concern for them. Said, done: The cakes were sold so fast on the first day that the next action should start the following week – everyone was called to bake cakes. That alone brought in over 700 euros. 

For several years there has been a Fairtrade shop at our school. Annually, small surpluses are generated, which usually flow back directly into the project. This time, however, Fairtrade AG decided to donate the entire surplus to the family audiobook – and again the account filled up.

What can I say: The end of the story is known. There were an incredible number of donors, every euro was important. There were people whose names I couldn't match. Some have simply pushed cash into our hands and dear ex-teachers who are already retired have come forward and also supported the good thing. Some donated several times. A colleague even made a donation from the hospital with her newborn child in her arms. It was very emotional and overwhelming!

The family audiobook says THANK YOU for this incredible commitment!