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Willich/Moenchengladbach. “I wish Markus good physical condition for his projects, good weather and many exciting experiences” – Marc Hölzle, the second chairman of the association “Insel Tobi eV” from Mönchengladbach, came to Willich for the symbolic start of Markus Pfennings’ second “heart project”. .
In the week before Easter (April 11th to 15th), #markusSupertramp, as he calls himself on Instagram and Facebook, will complete the first part of his second benefit challenge: He wants to complete stage N13 of the Goldsteig hiking trail in the Bavarian Forest and half of it Complete stage N12 and conquer a total of twelve 1000m peaks in just one day. “The N13 stage, which usually includes eight 1000m peaks, I added the “Stallriegel” with a height of 1228 m and included the Großer Abersee,” says the Willich charity hiker. On this day he also wants to conquer the Kleiner Riedelstein (1,042m), the Großer Riedelstein (1,132m) and the Rauchrohren (1,042m), which belong to stage N12. Altogether he will complete the distance of 26 kilometers on this day in addition to the altitude difference. The second part of the challenge: On April 23, Markus Pfennings completed the “mammoth march” in the Ruh area – a distance of 55 kilometers in one day.
The benefit idea: Markus Pfennings accompanies his project digitally and documents everything on his page “Heart Projects” on Facebook and #markusSupertramp on Insta. He solicits donations from his followers – in recognition of his sporting achievements. This year, he chose “Insel Tobi eV” as a donation purpose – a private care facility for children with serious illnesses – in particular with early childhood brain damage, muscle weakness, cancer, genetic defects, and serious persistent nutritional disorders. They are admitted to the facility on Kamillianer-Strasse for a limited period of time and are cared for by specialist staff and given psychological or educational support. During this time, the parents and other caring relatives can take time off to recover from the constant care of the sick child and simply have time for themselves.
“After the closure of our previous location in the Neuwerk hospital, we now have a changed concept and need a lot of support for personnel costs, among other things. Caring for the severely handicapped children requires a large number of specialist nurses,” says Hölzle. In addition, the children should also experience variety during their stay on the island of Tobi – from a visit to the German Bundestag to an afternoon at Borussia Mönchengladbach training to a visit to the ice cream parlour. “We always have to see what suits the child. We also provide educational support for the children,” Hölzle describes other ideas.
Markus Pfennings came up with the idea for his charity projects because he himself survived cancer in 2017, which fortunately was diagnosed early. In autumn 2021 he completed the Lechweg and collected donations for the association for the benefit of children with cancer in Krefeld. “The result at the time was 5,000 euros, which friends and people I didn’t know had donated. I never dared to dream of it and it spurred me on to take on another challenge this year,” said Pfennings. “I hope that many people will support me again. So that everything is handled properly, the donations should be transferred directly to the account of *Tobi Island* – with the subject “Heart Projects”, asks the ambitious hiker.
The donation account is open www.insel-tobi.de.
