On Volunteering Day (5 December), the Catholic university centers LAKUM Krefeld and Mönchengladbach held their eighth ceremony to distinguish the volunteer work of students. The "mitBedacht-Preis" is endowed with a total of 2000 euros.
This year, 20 students from nine out of ten faculties at The Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) submitted applications. In their letters of application, they gave an impressive picture of their diverse activities in the most varied areas of society. This diversity, perseverance and creativity impressed the jury.
The winners were above all those people for whom the students are committed and who voluntarily dedicate their time to voluntary work alongside their studies.
The jury was made up of Dörte Schall, City Director and Alderwoman of the City of Mönchengladbach, and Dr. Achim Eickmeier, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry at HSNR. Professor Dr. Berthold Stegemerten, Vice President of the HSNR, praised the students present in the Citykirche Mönchengladbach for their attitude, which they express through their honorary positions and without which an open and vibrant society would be unthinkable.
Sarah Deborah Fehres, who studies at the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology, was awarded first prize. She is the first award winner to stand out with honorary positions at The Hochschule Niederrhein, whether as a tutor for first semester students, chair of the faculty student council or as a trusted tutor. She also helped those affected by the flood disaster in the Ahr valley and refugees from Ukraine. However, the jury found the decisive point in a reference from the faculty's study progress advisor on the subject of combating discrimination: Fehres was instrumental in setting up an AGG complaints office, which has been in place at the university since this summer.
Second place went to Tobias Schlößer from the Faculty of Computer Science. He volunteers as the operational manager of CodeClubMG e.V. The club is aimed at students from the sixth grade onwards who are interested in IT. CodeClubMG now has over
100 participants between the ages of 11 and 19. Third place was shared by Darja Tophofen (Faculty of Social Work) and Muhamad Ragy (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Tophofen is involved in youth work at a Protestant church, in the rescue service at Malteser International and as a "mobile rescuer", a new system that uses an app to find the nearest trained first aider 24/7. Muhamad Ragy is a senior firefighter with the volunteer fire department in Krefeld-Hüls and works as a youth fire department instructor and is active in fire safety education in kindergartens and schools. The jury was impressed by the speed at which he sought out and mastered this voluntary work after arriving in Germany from Syria in 2015.
The organizers and directors of the Catholic University Centers Katja Landwehrs (Mönchengladbach) and Matthias Hakes (Krefeld) thanked all applicants. Hakes concluded the ceremony with a wish: "May we all, like you, and the award winners in particular, be able to listen to the emergency call, respond to it and become people who save or improve lives in just a few minutes!"
