Overview
Voluntary program
Bayer Links
Overview
Summary of projects supported so far
Since 2007 the Bayer Cares Foundation has been supporting charity projects of people who are actively committed to volunteerism in the communities near the company’s sites with funding of up to EUR 5,000. To date a total of 171 projects have been admitted to the Voluntary Program, representing total funding in excess of EUR 515,000.
Ilustrative list of sponsored projects (alphabetical):
Leverkusen
Bicycle repair classes and bike tours for children and young people
Ulrich Schmalstieg, a technician at Bayer Technology Services in Leverkusen, is a cycling enthusiast. In his free time, he helps children and young people who are members of the "Schöne Aussicht" youth and citizens’ center to service and repair their bikes and he organizes group rides. Total funding: EUR 1,600
Building a competence network of finance coaches
The Bayer foundation supports Wilhelm Schlüter, who is working with other project partners to train "finance coaches" in Leverkusen. With the funds, the team is building a competence network to further improve financial consulting services. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Chemistry club at Don Bosco Elementary School
The Bayer foundation is supporting Dr. Tatjana Dullau’s voluntary work at the Don Bosco School in the Quettingen district of Leverkusen. The Currenta chemist performs experiments together with third-grade students to show them that science can be fun. The funding was used to buy basic laboratory equipment and a wide range of consumables. Total funding: EUR 1,200
Construction of a “dwarf village” play area at the Sterntaler children’s daycare center in Burscheid
Dr. Michael Traving, a plant manager at Bayer Technology Services, is using the Bayer foundation’s funding to build the “dwarf village” – a new play area at the Sterntaler children’s daycare center in Burscheid. The center caters to both able-bodied and disabled children. It features a unique layout and is Burscheid’s largest integrative establishment for kindergarten children sponsored by a parents’ initiative. Total funding: EUR 4,650
Consulting center for disabled persons
With the help of the funding provided by the foundation, Petra Rossdeutscher founded a consulting center in Bergisch Gladbach to support families with disabled children in everyday matters. Through a specially established society, she fields a wide range of inquiries from those affected. Total funding: EUR 4,000
Contact point for people suffering from addictions
Currenta employee Rolf Janyga uses the funding provided by the Bayer foundation to provide a contact point in Leverkusen for people suffering from addictions and their family members. Janyga volunteers at an anti-dependency society and also works professionally as an addiction and social therapist. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Container-style kitchen for youth vacation programs in France
Jörg-Ernst Esser, a weighing systems engineer and member of the Works Council at Tectrion, a subsidiary of Currenta, has worked with a team of helpers to set up a container-style kitchen at his club's own St. Antonius Campgrounds in St. Julien de Peyrolas, near Avignon, France. Every year, over 330 children and young people from the Leverkusen area enjoy the vacation and youth programs offered by the St. Antonius e.V. club, based in Leverkusen. The club's youth program also enables socially disadvantaged children and young people to participate in the vacation events. Total funding: EUR 4,000
Conversion of “Die Knirpse” kindergarten in Manfort
Christiane Röger-Fröhlich, a certified business economist at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals in Leverkusen, has received funding from the Bayer Cares Foundation for her volunteer project. She has enlisted the help of other volunteers to convert “Die Knirpse” (“The tots”) kindergarten, a parents’ initiative that also provides freshly prepared meals. The new legislation on daycare facilities for children required the building to be adapted to the needs of under 3s. The funding from Bayer was spent on the kitchen, the rooms where the children rest, the baby changing room and the play areas. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Cooking group of the Höhenhaus pensioners’ network
In conjunction with Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Antoniter Siedlungsgesellschaft and others, the cooking group of the Höhenhaus pensioners’ network in the Mülheim area of Cologne offers shared meals as an integrative measure for older people who often live alone. The Bayer foundation is providing funds for the purchase of a new kitchen. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Counseling for families with children suffering from rheumatism in the Cologne region
Frank Wagner also works at Bayer CropScience and he founded the regional group "Treffpunkt Kinderrheuma Köln," a self-help group for children afflicted with rheumatism. The group's objective is to help families with rheumatic children to cope with the disease and everyday life. Mr. Wagner is himself a father and has been active as a group leader in the Cologne region ever since the organization was established. He volunteers his time for the project together with five other families. In addition to counseling, activities also focus on educational and information offers. With the help of the Bayer foundation, the group was able to purchase information materials and brochures, offer training and continuing education classes and finance outings. Total funding: EUR 3,790
Elementary school students at Dierath Community Elementary School experience the fascination of the natural sciences
To show children how much fun scientific phenomena can be, qualified Bayer chemist Dr. Peter Michael Lange carries out experiments together with the students of Dierath Community Elementary School. Total funding: EUR 2,000
Expansion of social counseling programs at the "Café Mittendrin" community center in Cologne-Dünnwald
The Bayer foundation supports Monika Migge, medical documentation specialist for drug safety at Bayer HealthCare Deutschland, who volunteers with others at the "Café Mittendrin" counseling and community center in Cologne-Dünnwald. The Café invites anyone in the neighborhood for a snack and a chance to meet and talk, serving simultaneously as a point of contact for further counseling. With the help of funding, an information wall was purchased to display brochures. Total funding: EUR 1,000
Experimental Physics Club at Longericher Hauptstrasse Catholic Elementary School in Cologne
At Longericher Hauptstrasse Catholic Elementary School in Cologne, Axel Hantusch and Alfons Kapusta are active in afternoon classes. The two volunteers analyze everyday physical phenomena together with the children. The support money is being used to purchase materials and tools for the experiments. Total funding: EUR 2,612
"Grandma tells a story": Early childhood language training at the “Wild Foxes”Children’s Daycare Center in Cologne-Bocklemünd / Mengenich
The Bayer foundation supports Ingrid Fürst, who reads aloud to children between the ages of four and six at the "Wild Foxes" Children’s Daycare Center in Cologne-Bocklemünd/Mengenich. Three times a week, the retiree reads to the children and helps them to learn the German language by way of age-appropriate question and answer games. The funding went to the purchase of books and educational games. Total funding: EUR 750
Helping people help themselves: Devising a fund-raising plan for a school in Nepal
Marlies Enk, a former Bayer CropScience employee, has volunteered through the Senior Expert Service (SES) to help at the Kalanki English Medium School (KEMS) in Katmandu, Nepal. Together with another SES colleague, she traveled to Nepal for four weeks to meet with the school board and devise a fund-raising system to improve education. In addition, the two senior experts joined with teachers and students to refurbish classrooms, develop lesson plans and initiate an environmental project. The funds from Bayer paid for their stay in Nepal. Total funding: EUR 580
Helping people help themselves: Improving hygiene practices in Togo’s food industry
Bayer retiree Dr. Klaus Koch, a former product manager and marketing head in the field of veterinary medicine, is working on a voluntary basis for the Senior Experts Service (SES). He is involved in the Ministry of Agriculture, Husbandry and Fisheries’ “TG-AGRISANI” project in Togo in Africa. Dr. Koch spent four weeks in the Togolese capital, Lomé, where he examined current food inspection practices and prepared an action plan with recommended improvements. Total funding: EUR 3,600
Hobby beekeepers get schoolchildren interested in their work
René Poloczek, an education major in biology and chemistry from Aachen, and Heike Maniatis, a chemistry lab technician at Currenta, are hobby beekeepers who visit Marienschule High School in Leverkusen-Opladen every week to teach students there about the importance of honeybees and beekeeping. Total funding: EUR 450
Homework tutoring for youngsters with a migration background
Together with other volunteers, Jannis Goudoulakis established an initiative aimed at providing qualified homework tutoring in Leverkusen specifically to schoolchildren with a migration background. Total funding: EUR 4,900
Improvement of the Leverkusener Tafel’s food distribution
Bayer retiree Dr. Adolf Staffe lives in Leverkusen and used to be in charge of the occupational safety department at Bayer’s Elberfeld site. He is currently involved in a software project for the Leverkusener Tafel charity, which is planning to use a computer program developed by the Bergisch-Gladbacher Tafel to improve and monitor food distribution arrangements. The foundation’s funding is being invested in the necessary notebook computers and three bar code scanners. Total funding: EUR 1,980
„KlexSe" - Scientific experiments for pre-school children
Bernd Setzer, former head of vocational training at Bayer in Leverkusen, organizes visits by so-called “senior experts” in Leverkusen and the surrounding area. These retired experts travel to daycare centers, pre-schools and elementary schools to demonstrate age-appropriate scientific experiments to the children. Total funding: EUR 3,200
Lunch for children participating in homework groups
Heide-Rose Grenner is a trained medical technical assistant and works at the Leverkusen Health Park. She is part of a team comprising five other volunteers and two social workers serving children attending elementary school in the Wiesdorf Protestant church diocese. The project is aimed at girls and boys from different cultures who need help with their schoolwork. A healthy, balanced lunch is also provided. The Bayer foundation’s funding is being invested in kitchen equipment. Total funding: EUR 950
Media workshop for children and young people at the Don Bosco Club in Cologne-Mülheim
The Bayer foundation supports the work of Marlies Enk, who worked as a market researcher at Bayer CropScience prior to her retirement. Together with other volunteers, she helps children and young people learn about various creative media. Her work centers on a project called "I C You," which teaches children in practical workshops how to intelligently use media, such as photography, radio and computers. Thanks to the foundation's funding, Ms. Enk was able to expand the range of equipment available for the media workshop to include another camera, a projection screen and other materials. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Patient support at St. Remigius Hospital in Opladen
Every second Wednesday, Bayer retiree Rosemarie Weber joins other volunteers to help out at St. Remigius Hospital. The former industrial sales representative supports patients, assisting them with tasks such as eating breakfast. She visits patients, makes small purchases for them, obtains any items of clothing they are lacking from the hospital’s clothing bank, accompanies patients on walks and helps them get in touch with social services. She thus contributes to patient welfare in many different ways. The Bayer Cares Foundation granted the requested funding so that training events could be held for volunteers. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Physics club at the Herzogstrasse Community Elementary School
Former Bayer employee Dieter Zurek does voluntary work at the Herzogstrasse Elementary School in Opladen. Following consultation with teacher Rosi Thiel, the trained measurement/control mechanic and social worker spends his mornings giving remedial lessons. After a communal lunch, he then helps with homework tutoring. Zurek has also set up a weekly physics club for eight children aged between 8 and 10. The Bayer foundation’s funding is being used to buy books, laboratory cupboards/equipment and microscopes. Total funding: EUR 2,000
Preserving the Castle Berge ruins as a historical site in Altenberg
Manfred Link, former department manager at Drugofa, a subsidiary of Bayer HealthCare Deutschland in Köln-Mülheim, is active in the preservation of historic monuments in the Rheinisch-Bergisch district. He manages all aspects of caring for and preserving natural and historical monuments, such as castles, circular ramparts, quarries, old trade routes and mills. Total funding: EUR 3,500
Promoting education in the natural sciences at the Children’s Daycare Center in Cologne-Flittard
Dr. Katrin Joschek and Dr. Jens Joschek work at Bayer MaterialScience and volunteer at the St. Hubertus Children’s Daycare Center in Cologne-Flittard, getting preschool children interested in the natural sciences through experiments. Once a month, the volunteers perform experiments together with the children and explore natural phenomena in everyday life. With the donation from the Bayer foundation, they purchased a range of laboratory equipment and work materials. Total funding: EUR 1,300
Reuschenberg Cemetery meeting place
Pastor Hubert Böke initiated a meeting place for the Protestant church district at Reuschenberg Cemetery where mourners can talk with trained volunteers. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Seniors Online – Computer classes for senior citizens in Cologne-Buchheim
Dieter Muhl, retired management consultant for Bayer AG, volunteers his time to offer computer courses for senior citizens in a self-help group called "Buchheimer Selbsthilfe e.V." in the Buchheim district of Cologne. He teaches the participants how to use a PC and explains the potential of the Internet. With the funds, he was able to purchase a laptop computer and a multimedia projector to make classroom work more efficient. Total funding: EUR 1,260
Snoezelen Cart: Therapy program for people suffering from dementia in Brauweiler
Wolfram von Langenthal, formerly an engineer in Bayer’s Rubber Business Group, works with other volunteers at the Johanniter Nursing Home in Brauweiler. To support care of the elderly, the funds from Bayer were used to purchase a "Snoezelen" cart, a multisensory environment that promotes the well-being of the residents. Originally used in treatment of people with disabilities to stimulate the senses and better regulate stimuli and perception, positive experience has since been gained with the Snoezelen concept in work with patients who are bed-ridden or suffering from dementia. The method effectively reduces stress symptoms, promotes better perception and thus also improves a patient's ability to interact with others. Total funding: EUR 2,000
Teddy hospital for small children
Volunteer Fabian Linde is involved in setting up a teddy hospital for small children at Leverkusen Hospital with the help of the University of Düsseldorf’s organization team. Children can bring their teddies and dolls here for treatment to experience what a hospital is like without actually being a patient. Total funding: EUR 1,100
Training of financial coaches for families
Walter Peffgen works with project partners to train so-called “financial coaches” in Leverkusen. These coaches volunteer their time to advise families threatened by over-indebtedness. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Water playground for the "Rhine Pirates"
A group of Bayer employees, including Dr. Michael Baum, Renate Block, Agnes Martin and Carmen Barnes-Ruiz, and one former employee, Dr. Jochen Kalbe, are building a water area for play and experimentation at "Rhine Pirates" preschool in Leverkusen-Hitdorf. Total funding: EUR 4,850
Wish list collection for the Nazareth House children’s home in Leverkusen
Nazareth House in Leverkusen is a state-of-the-art facility that is currently home to more than 100 children and young people. The roughly 100-strong team at Bayer Business Consulting wanted to go one step further than simply thinking about others and bring a smile to children’s faces by initiating a wish list collection as a Christmas campaign for the children. As well as making children’s wishes come true, the Bayer funding was used to buy sports equipment. Total funding: EUR 1,500
Bergkamen
Acting workshops for children and young people
Bayer employee Uwe Wittenberg works in a voluntary capacity organizing acting workshops for children and young people at the Werne open air theater. Total funding: EUR 4,000
“Adventure hill” for the Katharina von Bora children’s daycare center
Bayer employee Axel Macher is involved in designing an “adventure hill” for the Katharina von Bora children’s daycare center in Bergkamen. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Chemistry club at Schiller Elementary School
The Bayer foundation is supporting Cimbaly-Clara Cirkel’s voluntary work with the Schiller Elementary School’s chemistry club. The funding was used for a project encouraging hands-on experiments. Total funding: EUR 2,500
Children experience history at the Oberaden Roman camp
Bergkamen City Museum has set itself the task of giving children a taste of Roman history, and its permanent display now includes the “Drusus Camp”. Beate Tebbe is a volunteer in the museum’s education department. The funding was used to buy six Roman tents and 30 linen tunics. Total funding: EUR 2,500
„Mikado" pre-school in Bergkamen
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals employee Sven Stein, who works 24-hour-shifts as a fireman, also volunteers at his child’s pre-school. The money provided by Bayer is used to purchase experiment sets, microscopes, measuring beakers and test tubes in order to awaken the children’s curiosity about science. Total funding: EUR 2,000
Open-air theater “Freilichtbühne Werne”
In his spare time, Uwe Wittenberg, who works at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, looks after the technology side of the open-air theater “Freilichtbühne Werne” and is responsible for lighting, sound and special effects. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Berlin
Campaign to address gambling addiction among youngsters in the “Kiezboom e.V.” club
Four volunteers from the “Kiezboom e.V.” club in Berlin-Wedding have initiated a campaign to address the increasing incidence of gambling addiction among young people. The funds from the Bayer foundation are used to finance the printing of information material and to purchase film and photographic materials and textile prints. Total funding: EUR 3,500
Campground at Welzin Manor
The Berlin-based association “Action Tours – Living and Learning” offers schoolchildren in Welzin the opportunity to design their own campground during summer break, with infrastructure for washing and cooking. The funds from the Bayer foundation are used to purchase building materials. Total funding: EUR 4,000
Career guidance project
Bayer employee Jessica Barth is organizing a career guidance camp as part of the “training bridge” initiative of Diakonisches Werk Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Establishment of a sensory/relaxation room
Since 2007, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals employee Manja Sacher has been in charge of "Sternschnuppe", an organization supporting the Lindenhof SPZ (social-pediatric center). Her commitment and funding from the Bayer foundation have enabled a sensory/relaxation room to be established at the SPZ. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Funding for telephone crisis and support lines in Berlin
Every year, Telefonseelsorge Berlin e.V. receives 25,000 calls from people who need someone to talk to. Volunteers man the lines round the clock to listen to their woes and concerns. These volunteers complete 18 months of basic training to ensure they provide appropriate advice. The foundation’s funding is channeled directly into this training. Total funding: EUR 3,500
Help looking for that dream job
Jessica Barth works at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. In her free time, she volunteers as an "education patron", helping a student decide on which career to pursue by looking for internships together and staging mock interviews. The patron program is part of the "training bridge" initiative of the social services arm of the Protestant church. This initiative helps students choose a career, and provides them with support during the application phase, final exams and training period. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Leisure activities for young people combined with lifeguard training
Ralf Buckenauer, a lab assistant at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, spends his free time training lifeguards for the DLRG (German Lifeguard Association), while Bayer retiree Klaus-Peter Hartmann teaches children to swim. Together with other volunteers, they organized a one-week “Rescue Camp” during the summer vacation. 28 young people from Berlin, most of them from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, received both theoretical and practical first aid training and obtained the bronze lifesaving certificate. Total funding: EUR 2,600
New forms of prevention: Art and medicine
Retired doctor Helmut Hoffmann gvies young school children a basic knowledge of their bodies and the way their senses function through the medium of art. He teaches infants at the Vineta Elementary School in the Wedding district of Berlin about the five senses – hearing, touch, taste, sight and smell – and then asks them to produce paintings on this subject. Total funding: EUR 1,000
New preventive methods: Soil as a habitat
The Bayer foundation is supporting retired physician Dr. Helmut Hoffmann with the initiative “New Preventive Methods – Art and Medicine”. In “Soil as a Habitat”, fifth-grade students at the Charlie Chaplin Elementary School analyze soil and water samples from their immediate surroundings. Various tests from the field of environmental medicine – geared to the relevant age group – demonstrate how body functions, the environment, behavior and health are linked. Students then provide artistic interpretations of the topics dealt with. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Support for families with chronically sick children
For some 25 years, the self-help association KEKS e.V. has offered advice and support to the families of children with malformations of the esophagus. Volunteer Annette Friedrich, a study investigator at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, set up the first KEKS regional group in Berlin-Brandenburg with the help of foundation funding. Total funding: EUR 4,000
The magic of physics at elementary schools
Hartmut Buchwald, a former Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals employee, introduces children to the world of science through play. He invites students at Berlin’s Teltow Elementary School to participate in a magical hour exploring phenomena from the world of physics. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Youth environmental laboratory at the “Pyramid Garden” in Neukölln
The Berlin-based “Neukölln Multicultural Neighborhood Garden Initiative” offers city children from primarily socially disadvantaged families the opportunity to learn how to actively experience nature and thus take a responsible approach to the environment. The funding from the Bayer foundation is being used to set up a youth environmental laboratory in the initiative’s own “Pyramid Garden.” Total funding: EUR 4,520
Bitterfeld
Equipment for an art school for young people in Bitterfeld
Carola Niczko is a volunteer at Bitterfeld’s painting club. The Bayer foundation’s funding is invested in equipment for the workshops. The organization’s main aim is to provide children and young people with an interest in art with a good way of spending their free time. Total funding: EUR 3,500
Playground expansion in Bitterfeld
Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH employee Dr. Alexander Karwot initiated the pre-school project supported by the Bayer foundation. In his free time, he works with other volunteers on the expansion of the playground at the St. Josef Catholic Daycare Center in Bitterfeld to include a jungle path. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Research workshop for schoolchildren from Schochwitz
Mandy Hollweg and the charitable organization “Working Together for Schochwitz” volunteer their time to address scientific questions with schoolchildren and thus motivate them to take their own initiative with regard to learning. A research workshop focusing on geology, physics and chemistry is being set up with the funding provided by the Bayer foundation. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Sailing school – for tolerance, against violence
The donation from Bayer assists the pilot project entitled “Sailing school – for tolerance, against violence” in the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region. Volunteer Margret Oehne, who teaches German, Russian, English and social studies at a vocational school in Bitterfeld, initiated the project to strengthen the young people’s sense of community. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Brunsbüttel
"Südseitentreff" youth club in Brunsbüttel
The "Südseitentreff" (south-side club) project facilitates the integration of children and young people from different cultural backgrounds. It also offers homework supervision and extra lessons. Siegfried Baumann, a volunteer and winner of a Citizens’ Prize in 2008, is using the foundation’s funding to improve the facilities on offer. For example, the lunch menu is to be extended and the group rooms renovated. Total funding: EUR 3,500
Training young conflict mediators
Dr. Jörn Klimant, Willi Ruge and other volunteers from the Dithmarschen Children’s and Youth Foundation offer schoolchildren training in conflict mediation and social interaction. Total funding: EUR 1,290
Dormagen
Computer club for elementary schoolchildren at Regenbogen School in Rheinfeld
Norbert Dröger, production assistant at Bayer CropScience in Dormagen, has joined with 15 other volunteers to teach children at Regenbogen Elementary School in Rheinfeld to work with computers. The children in grades three and four learn how to independently operate word processing and image editing programs. The lesson plans even cover how to search for information using selected Internet search engines for children and e-mailing. The classes begin each year and include twelve units of two class periods each. Using the donated money, the group purchased Lego robots for use in the future in an additional club that will focus on programming. Total funding: EUR 2,000
Conflict mediators at elementary schools
Achim Scharte, a Bayer retiree who also served on the works council, volunteers as a conflict mediator at the St. Peter-Schule Rosellen Collective Elementary School. His goal is to train the young people in conflict management and social skills and thus relieve the burden on teachers. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Construction of a forest cabin for the German Forest Protection Youth Club
The Dormagen Forest Protection Youth Club is part of the State Association of the German Forest Protection Youth Club, which in turn is the youth organization under the larger "Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald," an association dedicated to preserving forests in Germany. Some 30 children and young people are members of the "Horst" local chapter in Dormagen. As a member of the club, Dieter Geller, 50, manager at Currenta in the Environment Business Unit in Dormagen, joined with 25 other helpers to build a cabin for the young people in the city's Straberg district. The cabin measuring more than 50 square meters will serve in the future as a meeting place for group projects, such as craft courses for building nesting boxes and bird houses, collecting and processing forest herbs and fruits or making natural paper. The lumber required for the cabin was financed in part by the Bayer Cares Foundation. Total funding: EUR 500
Construction of a waterscape
The foundation is supporting Dr. Jörg Christmann in his voluntary project for the Dormagen Outdoor Preschool. The funds are being used to finance a water experiment area. Total funding: EUR 1,400
Homework tutoring and application training for schoolchildren
Cemile Karagöz works at Bayer MaterialScience and oversees the “Economics and School” project in Dormagen. Together with other volunteers, she helps socially and learning disadvantaged high school students to earn their school diploma and find a vocational training placement. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Job search training and internships for school students
Cemile Karagöz and other volunteers are helping socially and learning disadvantaged students in junior high and secondary modern schools to earn their diploma and find vocational training positions. Cemile Karagöz tutors students, organizes job application training courses and finds internships for the young people in order to facilitate their transition to job and career. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Painting class for schoolchildren at Bertha von Suttner Comprehensive School
The artist Ulrike Bewersdorf has been working since 1993 as a surveyor at Currenta in Dormagen and heading up a painting club at Bertha von Suttner Comprehensive School in Nievenheim as a volunteer. Ms. Bewersdorf initiated the club for fifth and sixth graders and is supported in her work by another volunteer, Sabine Sommer. The funds went towards the purchase of brushes, acrylic paints, pads of paper, canvases and charcoal pencils. Total funding: EUR 300
Training of conflict mediators for schools
Bayer retiree Achim Scharte trains volunteers to act as conflict mediators in Dormagen schools. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Training of kitchen personnel at a children's home in Nicaragua
Gunter Huber, former kitchen director at the Bayer AG guest cafeteria in Dormagen, used the funding provided by the foundation to help a children’s home in Nicaragua. Huber trained the cafeteria kitchen employees in the areas of food preparation, hygiene and kitchen appliance maintenance. Total funding: EUR 2,000
Turkish Youth in Dormagen: Violence prevention project for young people
Gürkan Bora, plant foreman at Bayer MaterialScience, volunteers as deputy chairman of the Dormagen City Integration Council and as a member of the Council of Religions. He further initiated an education project for violence prevention in a youth athletic group, the "Türkische Jugend SV Dormagen e.V. 1989." The program teaches clear codes of behavior, the goal being to train young people – specifically girls in this case – in coping with conflicts and social interaction off the soccer field. Specially designed role-playing exercises, combined with individual and group discussions, contribute to the overall success of the project. The video camera and player required for this work were financed by the Bayer foundation. The club previously received the 2008 Integration Award from the German Soccer Association (DFB) in the category "Clubs." Total funding: EUR 3,000
Krefeld
“An de Welt” playground patrons initiative
Bayer foundation funding has enabled trained child care worker Dirk Wetzel to buy a bird’s nest swing for the “An de Welt” playground in Krefeld, where he is a volunteer. The playground patron project has existed in Krefeld since 1991. There are currently around 200 patrons helping to maintain and extend the city’s public playgrounds. Other activities include organizing children’s birthday parties and play afternoons. Total funding: EUR 1,500
AREA 51 youth center in Duisburg-Rheinhausen: New kitchen facilities for nutrition project
Bayer MaterialScience employee Björn Schüppen is investing the Bayer foundation’s funding in extending the kitchen at the AREA 51 youth center. Together with a further 13 volunteers, Schüppen has been supporting the Protestant church’s largely self-run youth center in the Rheinhausen district of Duisburg. The aim of the project is to show young people how to prepare their own meals from fresh ingredients. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Basic course in nordic walking for the disabled
Wilhelm-Hendrik Lauritsch, employee at Bayer MaterialScience in Uerdingen, has started a basic course in nordic walking for disabled people. After successful completion of the course the participants should be able to join the group of non-disabled walkers. Total funding: EUR 3,400
Equipment for the THW youth club premises in Kempen
Torsten Fochler is an energy electronics engineer at Currenta in Uerdingen. He is grateful for the Bayer Cares Foundation’s funding for his volunteer project, which involves renovating the youth club of THW Jugend e.V. Kempen. Fochler is the local youth leader and initiated this project with other volunteers. The funding will be used to provide basic furnishings for the recreation room. Total funding: EUR 3,000
“Makrolon Runners” get children running
Wilhelm-Hendrik Lauritsch, a Bayer MaterialScience employee in Krefeld-Uerdingen, is one of the “Makrolon Runners”. He shows children aged between four and six that sport is both fun and healthy. Lauritsch and his fellow runners go to kindergartens in Uerdingen to provide information on their free running and movement activities. The Bayer foundation’s funding has been used, among other things, for mobility aids, a crawling tunnel for the agility course and gymnastics poles. Total funding: EUR 2,500
Patchwork club: Creative use of textiles at St. Nikolaus High School in Kalkar
Retiree Sigrun von Rabenau runs the weekly “Patchwork club” at St. Nikolaus High School in Kalkar. For three years, the trained photographer has been teaching students how to be creative with clothing, fashion and decorative textiles. In the classroom, von Rabenau and her charges design and sew all kinds of materials. She also passes on some valuable tips and tricks of the trade. The Bayer Cares Foundation granted the project the requested funding to buy a sewing machine and other materials. Total funding: EUR 900
Playground sponsorship in Uerdingen
The Bayer foundation is supporting Andrea Reuter in her voluntary role as a patron of the children’s playground on Uerdingen’s Mündelheimerstrasse. The funding was used to buy a new toy car for the children to play in. Total funding: EUR 3,200
Vacation camp organized by Kinder- und Jugendarbeit Krefeld-Oppum
Thomas Käbisch, a logistics manager with Currenta subsidiary Chemion Logistik, joined forces with a further nine volunteers in 2010 to once again organize a vacation camp in Kelchham (Thyrnau municipality in the Passau district) in the Bavarian Forest. Around 40 children and young people from Krefeld and the surrounding area took up the Oppum youth center’s popular vacation offering. It is particularly important to the ecumenical organization for children and young people to ensure that socially disadvantaged children and young people also benefit from this initiative. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Weimar
Construction of an adventure playground in Weimar-Schöndorf
The foundation is supporting the construction of an adventure playground on the premises of the “Café Conti” youth club in Weimar-Schöndorf. Volunteer Michael Kasper launched the construction project which he is implementing in his spare time together with other volunteers. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Expansion of the schoolyard at the Kromsdorf / Denstedt Elementary School
The foundation supports the volunteer efforts of the “Friends and Supporters of Kromsdorf/Denstedt Elementary School Society” near Weimar. Volunteer René Woithe, who works for Bayer at the Weimar site, helped to redesign the schoolyard. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Extension of an elementary school playground in Milda
Heike Becher initiated the project in her free time, joining forces with other volunteers to extend the playground at the elementary school in Milda. It can now be made much more attractive and accommodate a climbing frame. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Wuppertal
Biology and chemistry course for beginners at Angelo Roncalli Elementary School
During afternoon instruction at Angelo Roncalli Elementary School in Wuppertal, Simone Dörfling – a technical employee at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal – offers a science course for beginners featuring age-specific scientific experiments. The funding is used to purchase materials for experiments. Total funding: EUR 600
"Class sponsorship" at the Yorckstrasse Elementary School in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel
For a number of years now, Bayer retiree Christel Lettner has sponsored a class at Yorckstrasse Elementary School in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel. Funds provided by the foundation are used to purchase teaching materials and a laptop computer. Total funding: EUR 1,000
"Class sponsorship" at the Yorckstrasse Elementary School in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel
Former Bayer AG employee Christel Lettner became a “class sponsor” in 2004. Twice a week, parallel to classwork, she specifically tutors children who are having trouble with the subject matter. Books and learning materials for instruction in the class are purchased with the help of the support money. Total funding: around EUR 500
Creative working and career orientation at the Astrid Lindgren School
Birgit Lange, a technical assistant at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal, offers a pottery course for children with learning disabilities and behavioral problems at the Astrid Lindgren School. The funds are being used to purchase a kiln, as well as pottery materials and tools. Total funding: EUR 5,000
End-of-life care with music through the "Dandelion" hospice service
Eike Gardlo, a biological laboratory assistant at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal, volunteers her time to play music as part of the Wuppertal hospice service for people suffering from incurable diseases. The funding is being used to purchase several instruments. Total funding: EUR 1,200
English for kids: promoting languages at the Sophienschule school
Together with Kerstin Stege, an assistant at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal, girls and boys at the Sophienschule school discover the English language in a fun way. The funds provided by the foundation are used to procure learning materials. Total funding: EUR 2,000
German Child Protection League: “Young people advise young people”
The Wuppertal chapter of the German Child Protection League offers a free and anonymous telephone hotline that is operated by young people for other youngsters and children who have experienced physical or verbal abuse. The funds from Bayer are used to help train additional young people as telephone advisers. Total funding: EUR 4,800
Microscopy course at Else Lasker-Schüler Comprehensive School
Monika Heine – a biological laboratory assistant at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal – volunteers her time at Else Lasker-Schüler Comprehensive School to conduct experiments in botany, microscopy and microbiology that support regular biology instruction. With the help of the funding, the necessary equipment such as microscopes and safety equipment can be purchased for the schoolchildren. Total funding: EUR 2,800
Montessori Kinderhaus
Dr. Mark Jean Gnoth, a biologist and laboratory manager at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, is bringing the magic of science a little closer to pre-school children at the Montessori Kinderhaus in Mettmann. Every two months, he organizes experiments suitable for the three- to six-year-olds. The funding has been used to buy a research and experiment set, basic laboratory equipment, microscopes, experiment boxes, a set of floats and a special kit that enables the children to watch roots growing. Total funding: EUR 3,250
Ronsdorf rock project
For 25 years, Wuppertal teacher Karl-Georg Waldinger has been organizing the Wuppertal student rock festival as part of the Ronsdorf rock project through the youth and culture organization Verein für Jugend und Kultur e.V. It is the largest live concert in Wuppertal and Germany’s largest rock festival for up-and-coming young bands. Funding from the Bayer foundation (and other sponsors) is being used to extend a soundproofed practice room and guest accommodation where student bands can stay for free during the festival or international meetings. Band workshops will also be offered on the premises in the future. Total funding: EUR 2,500
Scientific experimentation at Wuppertal-Vohwinkel Comprehensive School
Petra Ammelung – a biological laboratory assistant at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal – organizes an experimentation club featuring experiments and practical training for schoolchildren at Wuppertal-Vohwinkel Comprehensive School. The Bayer funding helps in the purchase of the necessary materials for experiments. Total funding: EUR 2,800
Self-reliant living for mentally disabled youngsters
Dr. Werner Kleine, chairman of the parent-teacher association at the “am Nordpark” school, helps mentally disabled children to make the transition from school to the world of work in a training apartment provided by the city of Wuppertal that prepares the youngsters for self-reliant living. The funds are being used to purchase household furnishings such as a kitchen, furniture, a washing machine and a dryer. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Wuppertal Children’s Cancer Society initiative
With the donation of the Bayer Foundation organized volunteer Michael Roemer an adventure weekend in the Roman camp, " Drusus Camp " in Bergkamen, where children with and without cancer explore together with friends and parent the daily life in a Roman camp. Total funding: EUR 1,400
Wuppertal Children’s Cancer Society initiative
With the aid of the donation, Michael Römer is organizing convalescent leave for a total of nine families and their ill children. The technical assistant at Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal has already initiated many projects for affected families.Total funding: EUR 5,000
Wuppertal Children's Cancer Society Initiative
Bayer HealthCare technician Michael Römer is active in the Wuppertal Children’s Cancer Society initiative. With the help of the donation from Bayer, he organized a leisure weekend for 70 children and parents in the Eifel region of Germany. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Latin America
Colombia: Bayer Chicos
BSP employee Carlos Maldonado (Medical Director) from Colombia and 30 other Bayer volunteers are showing children the world of science in the Bayer Chicos project. The funding is being used to expand the program. New experimentation kits for around 150 children are to be purchased to integrate a further five schools in Bogotá into the project. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Guatemala: extending and renovating a school
Retired Bayer employee Febe Avila Dominguez from Guatemala has mobilized a group of volunteers to extend and renovate a school building in the community of San Antonio, Chiquimulilla, Santa Rosa. The funding will be used to add a room to the school for at least 30 children. New tables and chairs will also be purchased. Total funding: EUR 5,000
Guatemala: Give and Receive / aid following crop failure
BCS employee Ana Ramirez de Mesa from Guatemala is providing support for the “Give and Receive” project. The village of “Tres Pinos”, three hours from Guatemala City, is home to 50 families whose crops were decimated by drought in 2009. The funding is being used to buy treated seeds, foodstuffs, tools for farming, weedkiller, fertilizer, water tanks, paint, trees, wood, wire, etc. Total funding: EUR 4,000
Guatemala: Smile Project
The Bayer retiree Miguel Angel Piedrasanta is a volunteer in the Smile Project. The Smile Project is a recreational initiative that provides opportunities for excursions, activities, and party events for children in institutions throughout Guatemala City and surrounding areas. The target groups are children who live in orphanages. They also organize events in hospices for children with terminal illnesses, including AIDS. Total funding: EUR 3,000
México: Un techo para mi pais
BTS engineers Fernando López and Ricardo Aguilar from Mexico have utilized the project Un techo para mi país (A roof for my country) to build new roofs for the houses of families in need. The funding has been used to buy material for two roofs. Total funding: EUR 3,000
Uruguay: gardens for poor families
In the “Hidroponia incluye” project, BCS engineer Francisco Mitrano from Uruguay is providing support for 40 families in poor districts in creating and managing gardens to grow their own produce. The funding is being used to buy construction materials, polyurethane sheets and seeds. Total funding: EUR 4,000
Uruguay: supporting needy children in institutions
BSP employee Antonio Alvarez from Uruguay and a group of volunteers are providing support for the children’s home Casa Hogar. Working as a volunteer, Antonio supervises children in activities such as visits to the theater. The funding is being used to finance projects such as renovation of children’s bedrooms, improving gardens, new air conditioning systems and clothes for the children. Total funding: EUR 2,000
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