Great Orchestra of X-mas Aid

[valpomike]

Again, I say, Polish people care, and help when they can.

Mike

[Bonobo]

Jan 10, 2010 20:07:14 GMT 1 tufta said:

Poland's Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity - the largest of Poland’s annual fund raisers for children’s help organisations - raised 36 million zloty (8.5 million euros), Sunday.

The final total of money collected will not be known for some time, but last year the charity raised over 40 million zloty.

The finale, which saw concerts and events all over Poland and around the world - with participation of over 120,000 volunteers, despite heavy snow - was a concert outside the Palace of Culture and Science, where Orchestra leader, Jerzy Owsiak, led celebrations lit by fireworks, starring Justyna Steczkowska among many others.

The charity orchestra “played” in Gdansk, Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan, Katowice, Lublin, Bialystok, Szczecin, Koszalin, Kielce, Gorzow Wielkopolski and Zielona Gora.

Global Orchestra

Fund raising also reached Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, France, Holland, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Austria, Egypt, Germany, Norway, and the USA.

The day began at 09.00 when Owsiak began events in Poznan, then was flown to Warsaw accompanied by F-16 aircraft.

Not everyone joined in the spirit of the day, however - to raise money for the fight against children with cancer. According to TVP, 50 separate incidents were reported to the police, including volunteers getting physically attacked while out fund raising and selling the characteristic red hearts.

The most serious incident was the assault of two volunteers in Plock. Police are also looking for two men who beat up a 15-year volunteer and stole the collecting cans.

To contact or donate to the charity go to their web site here.























The police also collect donations




Sticking a heart badge onto a donor`s jacket.

[Bonobo]

Santa visits ill children

[Bonobo]

Poland’s single biggest one-day charity fund raiser, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, received 37 million zloty (just under 10 million euros) yesterday for children with kidney disease.

The charity, under the charismatic leadership of Jerzy Owsiak, will go on holding auctions and other events into February.

The 37 million was five short of the record pledged and collected at last year’s event.

“It‘s a day like today when we show that we are a community of Poles - that we are united,” Owsiak said yesterday.

Much of the money was raised via auction, with celebrities offering services and gadgets in return for donations.

President Bronislaw Komorowski and First Lady Anna offered places in the VIP box at the National Stadium in Warsaw for the opening match of the Euro 2012 football championship.

Poland’s navy auctioned trips in a submarine and the Poznan air base offered a ride in their F-16 training simulator.

Earlier, health minister Ewa Kopacz pledged that the government would donate extra funding for the earlier diagnosis of children suffering from cancer, a programme initiated by the charity ’orchestra’.

On Sunday evening the traditional “heaven‘s light” fireworks lit up the sky above the Palace of Culture and Science in the centre of Warsaw as a finale to events which saw 120,000 volunteers up and down the country out with collecting tins in what has become a feature in January in Poland since the charity began in 1992.

Orchestra plays worldwide

Events were not only confined to Poland. For the first time, the charity saw a fund raising drive in Spain, where money was collected in Madrid, the Canary Islands and in Palma de Rio near Cordoba, in partnership with the Spanish Red Cross.

In the USA, the largest event was in Chicago, where the Copernicus Centre organised exhibitions to raise money for the charity and local shops put collection tins by the checkout counter.

The Chicago Bulls basketball team donated autographed footballs which were sold off on the Allegro auction web site.

Fund raisers also took place in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France, Belgium, Austria, Greece, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Sweden, and even Poland’s Antarctic station Arctowski.

[justine26]

I think the phenomenon is amazing. This action has not proved to work in any other country apart from Poland. People become so generous on this day. Thanks to them and Owsiak s enthusiasm so many children could be helped. I also try to help and always give my pocket money for this action.

[Bonobo]

20th edition is today.

[Bonobo]

The photo of First Lady greeting bishops on Youth Days earned a record sum - 50.000$.