Quercus acutissima - Silkworm Oak
BayWa Foundation: Exemplary promotion of education at schools - and at the University of Applied Sciences
Maria Thon has headed the BayWa Foundation since 2010. She burns for each one of her foundation projects. Her drive, commitment and enthusiasm are admirable - and contagious.
The foundation was established on the company's 75th anniversary in 1998. Maria Thon founded it in over ten years of dedicated and meaningful work. She has built up a passionate team, successfully networked, generated donations and sharpened the foundation's goals: in 2021, the BayWa Foundation is committed to healthy nutrition and renewable energies, primarily at home, in Germany, but also worldwide over 30 educational projects annually. The peculiar feature is that BayWa AG not only bears the foundation's administrative costs but also doubles every euro donated. That means that 200 per cent of the donations reach the projects.
The targeted focus on promoting education in nutrition and energy is congruent with that of the HSWT. And those committed to the same ideas seem to grow together of their own accord. Against this backdrop, the BayWa Foundation has been one of the most important sponsors of the Germany Scholarship at the HSWT since 2011 and currently supports 20 scholarship holders here alone. With regard to the selected candidates, not only top performance is required, but also social commitment, emphasises Maria Thon. And, of course, BayWa AG is particularly pleased when the best of the best find a place in the company after completing their university education.
"A few years ago, we planned, built and assembled an eight-metre-high wind turbine in cooperation with students or lecturers from Triesdorf and a secondary school in the Ansbach district," Thon recalls enthusiastically and regrets that this project has not become permanent. With their school garden projects and the Nutrition Compass at around 1,500 schools alone, and with the expansion, planning and supervision of the other international projects, the Foundation team has its hands full with work anyway. Nevertheless, new ones are added regularly, such as the Forest School, one of the BayWa Foundation's most recent campaigns. As part of this project, schoolchildren experience the diversity of nature in the forest and plant their own trees. Needless to tell, forest school is also very close to Thon's heart. "Because I love trees," she says. She adds that for the birth of their first daughter, they planted a Boskoop Apple Tree in the garden.
In 2021, the HSWT will plant a tree for the BayWa Foundation. Maria Thon provides the most magical quote the University of Applied Sciences could wish for the anniversary campaign: "Trees are like families," she says, "their branches develop in all directions, but their roots are always the same." The Japanese chestnut oak (Quercus acutissima), one of the most impressive climate change trees, will enrich the arboretum in the spirit of its godmother. It will drive its strong roots into the campus soil and not only serve the University of Applied Sciences family with its growth - as a fascinating research object as well as a beautiful meeting place for nature and tree lovers like Maria Thon.
Distribution: Japan, China, Korea and Himalayas
Size: up to 20 metres high
Leaves: dull glossy, dark green, needle-shaped toothed, 10 to 20 cm long
Fruits: 2 cm long acorns
