Sustainability is at the heart of our business. We decided to make a product-based donation from the very first product. This means that we donate 1€ of every product to a social/ecological initiative. In this way, we further integrate social and environmental sustainability into our business. With the hejhej-mats we support a social project in Cape Town – Earth Child Project. With this collaboration, we are so happy and impressed with the great work this wonderful NGO is doing.
For our newer hejhej-products, we have sought out another initiative to further focus on the topic of ecological sustainability. A friend drew our attention to a great regional foundation. Because of this, we sat down with Dr Günther Pfann digitally in several conversations, exchanged views and asked him questions. Regionality is of course especially nice here as well since we can support actively and locally and, above all, see whether our projects have really been implemented.
We have decided to donate 1€ per hejhej-bag, hejhej-strap and hejhej-bolster to the Dr. Günther Pfann Foundation in Franconia! Also 0,50€ per sold hejhej-spray.
The foundation is committed to the preservation of biodiversity and natural habitats in our immediate environment in Franconia, for example by planting trees and hedges or seeding wildflower meadows.
We are very much looking forward to our future cooperation and would like to tell you more about it.
What exactly convinced us to donate to the Dr. Günther Pfann Foundation?
The foundation was recommended to us by a good friend. For about 4 years now, Dr Günther Pfann has been working with his foundation for animals, nature and people, thus putting almost all his time, energy and money, and above all his lifeblood, into the social and ecological sustainability of our planet. After his time as a veterinarian, he is now busy as a volunteer.
The foundation is active throughout Franconia. We quickly realised how important local nature is to Dr. Pfann. We also know from this foundation that it is acutely seeking donations. Unlike other projects, we know there that the donation is really needed and used.
As a donor, we can choose exactly which project we want to donate to. For every product sold (hejhej-bag, hejhej-strap and hejhej-bolster) we donate 1€ to the Dr. Günther Pfann Foundation.
What we really think is great is that every euro that comes in really goes out and can make a difference. Dr. Günther Pfann pays ancillary costs himself. He puts a lot of money out of his own pocket into this foundation and thus into the nature and health of the people and the planet. We have never met a person who spends so much heart and soul, motivation, time and his own money for our earth. We know from this foundation that every euro is gratefully accepted and really needed and used for social and ecological sustainability. In contrast to other organisations, especially larger ones, the donations here are not spent on marketing material such as flyers, thank-you cards, stickers, etc., or put into the wages of the leaders.
Which projects does the foundation do?
The focus is on social and ecological sustainability. In general terms, the foundation supports animals, nature, senior citizens, children and the homeless. The projects that are supported often combine these themes or relate to as many of these groups as possible.
Dr. Günther Pfann advocates a more intensive encounter between humans and animals. For example, by visiting kindergartens, hospitals and senior citizens’ homes, and by supporting therapy dogs.
For the wild animals, he sets up countless feeding stations in the forest, among other places. He also combines this with school classes so that young children can learn about environmental protection in a playful way. He also organises planting events with school classes or visits beekeepers with them. We think environmental education is so important for children and young people. This is exactly why we also support the Earth Child Project in Cape Town with the sale of the hejhej-mats.
One of Dr. Günther Pfann’s oldest projects is round trips with social workers and a humanitarian to care for homeless or needy people and their animals.
An important part of the foundation is also the planting of trees and the sowing of bee meadows or flower seeds. Trees are planted from around November to March. Dr. Pfann plants high trunk trees (approx. 3 m high) directly here, which then produce oxygen more quickly and form leaves and buds directly the next year. The growth rate is much higher with high trunk trees in contrast to small seedlings, i.e. planting is safer. However, high trunk trees are much more expensive than seedlings. An important principle of Dr. Günther Pfann is that he only plants old fruit varieties in order to support biodiversity and fight species extinction.
A major challenge for the foundation is to find free areas for the trees and bee meadows where the plants can actually remain for 5-25 years and be cared for.
Invitation – areas where Dr. Günther Pfann can plant!
Dr. Günther Pfann is desperately looking for free areas where he can plant trees and shrubs. Dr. Günther Pfann explained this problem in detail in our interview. He brings money, time and know-how, but the cities and municipalities often do not give him permission or provide him with public areas where the foundation can plant trees or bushes. They almost always decide to leave the open space as compensation areas. Green strips at the roadside are often sealed, i.e. paved over or tarred. The only reason for this is that the city then has maintenance work to do, for example, to cut back the trees. Farmers also receive extra subsidies from the state if they leave their land unused, i.e. do not plant trees on their fields. We at hejhej really couldn’t get this problem out of our minds and we still find it incomprehensible how something like this can happen. We therefore also want to help where we can.
In addition to public areas, private areas are also suitable for planting trees and shrubs for Dr. Günther Pfann. If you feel directly addressed here, feel free to contact us to find out more.
If you come from Franconia and feel like getting active and helping nature and animals, the foundation is always looking for volunteers.
How much are we donating?
Transparency is very important to us, which is why we take you along in our cooperation with the foundation. We will tell you in detail what exactly your money has achieved and which project it has gone to. In our annual impact report, we record the donations for you in detail to always see what has been done with the donations.
So far, we have donated 320 euros to the Dr Günther Pfann Foundation in the period from February to April 2021. The money was used for the following projects: Renaturation of areas and sowing of new bee meadows.
This means that we, and you too, are involved in the Dr. Günther Pfann Foundation’s planting of a total of 100,000 square metres of flowering meadow next year! Flowering meadows are always planted for at least 5 years.
Many thanks to Dr. Günther Pfann for your valuable work. We are very happy to support your projects with our donation in the future and are very excited to see what changes we can experience on this earth. We are also looking forward to our local actions together!
Photo Credits: First and last picture: Dr. Günther Pfann Foundation.
