The value of the spoken word was also experienced by the relatives of Olaf Stahlschmidt. The Cologne-based physicist battled cancer for over two years and passed away in July 2025 at the age of 53. During this time, Olaf Stahlschmidt and his wife Antje were introduced to the idea of recording an audiobook for their daughter Anne by Familienhörbuch gGmbH.
While he was still alive, it was important to them to raise awareness of this through a personal fundraising campaign with his employer, Leybold. Under the motto "My story and voice remain," Stahlschmidt was certain that the donations would subsequently go to the gGmbH, which would enable those affected to record an audiobook at no cost to themselves.
This was very well received and was also supported by Leybold and many of Olaf Stahlschmidt's colleagues on August 28, 2025: In August 2025, around 130 runners and walkers took part in a charity run on the factory premises on Bonner Straße to raise money for the deceased's heartfelt project. The running community completed a total of 850 km.
Runners and donors contributed €1,179 in entry fees and €3,495 in lap fees. Leybold then increased the amount to €6,000. The check has now been presented to Judith Grümmer from the family audiobook.