For eleven years, the Gymnasium Rutesheim has been raising money for HOPPS together with us. Shortly before the concert, Dirk visited head teacher Jürgen Schwarz and the student council and asked them how they manage it year after year.
On a sunny late afternoon in October, we sat together in the foyer of the Gymnasium Rutesheim: Luisa, the student council’s donation ambassador for our concert, Sara, deputy student representative, the liaison teachers Michail and Lisa, and head teacher Jürgen Schwarz, who has also been the patron of “Was uns am Herzen liegt” for many years.
Winter market, chocolate Santas and mulled wine
So how do all the donations the school hands over to us year after year actually come about? Luisa and Sara run through the list: at the winter market, the classes sell things they have made themselves, from jam to roasted almonds and popcorn to mulled wine. On St Nicholas’ Day, the students send each other chocolate Santas. On top of that there are sponsored runs and a flea market in the schoolyard before the summer holidays. All the proceeds go to HOPPS.
Eleven years, a shared legacy
We first met in 2015, on a sad occasion. Marleen Küchler, a student at the Gymnasium Rutesheim and herself a patient at the Olgäle, had accompanied our first concert and died shortly afterwards. Ever since, we have carried on together, for the children cared for by HOPPS. You can read more about this in our thank-you to the Gymnasium Rutesheim.
That the school has stayed on board for so long is also thanks to the information stands at every event, where the student council explains where the money really goes, and to the liaison teachers, who pass the project on from one year group to the next.
Donors, not sponsors
A big concert costs money, and we are grateful to every supporter who covers these costs for us. The school plays a special role here:
After all, we are not sponsors, we are donors. And that’s why we donate together with “Was uns am Herzen liegt”, with the musicians, for the Olgäle.
At the benefit concert on 17 October 2026 at the Friedenskirche Ludwigsburg, Luisa and Sara will come up on stage, bringing gingerbread and chocolate Santas with them. We will hand over the actual donation to HOPPS together in the coming weeks – and keep you posted here on our website.
And in Advent we will be back at the school: around St Nicholas’ Day 2026, there will be the next break-time concert in the foyer – long since a tradition. Thank you, dear Gymnasium Rutesheim, for eleven years of loyalty!
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