The establishment of the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation was a process that occupied me for some time. On the one hand, after the death of my husband in 1990, it was important to me to continue the company as an independent enterprise and to ensure that the jobs at the Osnabrück location were safeguarded; on the other hand, it should be made possible to do something meaningful with part of the proceeds. As a viable solution for not exposing the company's current 239 jobs (end of 2013) to the laws of the free market, the idea of establishing a charitable foundation matured in me. About half of the shares - in 2002, the GmbH & Co. KG was converted into a stock corporation - have been transferred to the foundation.

In December 2008, the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation began its work. Competent advisors supported me in this step and secured the pillars of our company philosophy - independence and innovation - for the future.

When I look back on the company's 60-year history, I always discover that the most important building block is that of future-oriented investment. This is how the company has become what it is today: a market leader in Europe. Therefore, it is a very special concern of mine that also through the support of the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation meaningful investments are made in the future. Soon after its establishment, the focus was set on education. The primary task of the foundation is to strengthen the potential of children and young people, preferably in the Osnabrück region, and to enable them to have - I hope - a better future by improving their educational opportunities. The support of children of Bohnenkamp AG employees who are capable of achieving is also of great importance. In the meantime, the foundation has established itself as an "education foundation".

The topic of education was therefore chosen quite deliberately, as in my opinion it is one of the most important social topics when it comes to securing our future. The many congratulations and the benevolent support I have received from representatives of politics and business after the establishment of my foundation show me that I have set the right course for the future - not only that of Bohnenkamp AG. I am very happy about this and it also makes me a little proud. And so I hope that the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation will continue to be able to set many important accents and thereby make its contribution to shaping the educational landscape in the Osnabrück region and will continue to do so for a long time to come.