Exactly two months after the January fundraiser, Jurek Owsiak officially summed up the 30th Grand Finale. The result of this year's project, dedicated to eye diagnostics and treatment in children, is PLN 224,376,706.35, which gives PLN 13.5 mln more than last year. During the ceremony, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation symbolically thanked people and institutions whose engagement made the annual fundraiser possible for the past three decades.
The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation publically announces the estimated result of each charitable collection, when the sum is precisely calculated. The declared amount sums up the estimated funds raised by the Collection Centres, the electronic donations (status at the end of the fundraiser day), and donations pledged by the partners.
The works of compiling a complete report on the collected sum of money take a few weeks. Each time the declared sum and the final result of the Grand Finale differ - e.g. 28th Grand Finale ended with a declared amount of PLN 115,362,894, and in the end, the total sum was equal to PLN 186,133,610.66, during the 29th Grand Finale the sums were PLN 127,495,626 and PLN 210,830.10 respectively.
The 30th Grand Finale, with its objective to aid eye treatment in children, ended with the declared sum of PLN 136,282,325. Once we reached that amount in our estimates, the meter at wosp.org.pl was stopped on 2nd March 2022, and the final result was announced only today, during a gala at Centrum Praskie Koneser in Warsaw.
During the ceremony, Jurek Owsiak summed up three decades of the GOCC's activities and thanked all the people and institutions engaged in its projects throughout the years.
We've been together for 30 years, and for 30 years we've done marvellous things, which are ours and civic. As my daughter once said - it was not an algorithm, it was us who did it! We showed people that if we organize, we are capable of making the impossible happen
Jurek Owsiak, the Chairman of the board of the Foundation
Jurek Owsiak announces the result of the 30th Grand Finale, photo: Łukasz Widziszowski
How much was raised during the 30th Grand Finale?
The culmination point of the event was of course the announcement of the result of the 30th Grand Finale, the amount of PLN 224,376,706.35, which is over PLN 13.5 mln more than last year. The result is calculated by summing up:
- donations made via digital platfroms - PLN 127,703,423.61 (56.91% of the total amount)
- donations from the collection boxes - PLN 95,134,700.90 (42.40%)
- items donated to the Foundation - PLN 1,538,581.84 (0.69%)
See the Light! We raised PLN 224,376,706.35. Thank you!
Thus, in 30 fundraisers, the GOCC Foundation managed to collect a total of more than PLN 1.75 billion, for which nearly 69,000 pieces of equipment have so far been purchased.
1633 Collection Centres, including 90 International Collection Centres from 29 countries (i.a. from Australia, Croatia, Türkiye and Thailand) were engaged in the 30th Finale.
One of the special forms of the fundraiser is Allegro Auctions for the GOCC Foundation. Among the items auctioned on the platform, there were Iga Świątek's tennis racket and common training, two famous sofas from Kuba Wojewódzki's talk show, Harley Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle, and Sierra - a car from Jurek Owsiak's memories. The GOCC Foundation raised PLN 37,414,104.48 via Allegro Auctions.
The announcement of the 30th Grand Finale result was highlighted by a concert by Morgane Ji, a Matisse singer originally from the island of Reunion who played at Pol'and'Rock Festival 2021.
Morgane Ji giving a concert during the announcement of the 30th Grand Finale results, photo: Lucyna Lewandowska
30th Finale for the children's ophthalmology
During the winter fundraiser, volunteers from all over the world collected the money to ensure the best standards of diagnostics and treatment of eye diseases and disorders in children. The Foundation plans to purchase the latest and most modern equipment for hospitals and clinics nationwide. One of the key purchases is to be a device for biplane angiography, which allows for the treatment of retinoblastoma - the most common malignant tumour of the eyeball in children. This equipment enables the use of the most modern and effective method of treating the tumour: intra-arterial chemotherapy.
One of the key purchases is to be a device for biplane angiography, which allows for the treatment of retinoblastoma - the most common malignant tumour of the eyeball in children. This equipment enables the use of the most modern and effective method of treating the tumour: intra-arterial chemotherapy.
The aim of the Finale is also to launch Poland's first ophthalmic surgery simulation centre, thanks to which specialists dealing with children will be able to learn the correct movements and techniques of intraocular surgery, which will translate into an improvement in the quality of the operations performed.
It was the first fundraiser dedicated to children's ophthalmology, but not the first GOCC project related to the treatment of eye diseases in children. The Foundation has been running the Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity Programme for over 20 years. Until autumn of 2021, doctors have examined and diagnosed nearly 262 thousand prematurely born babies and the eyesight of almost 100% of those diagnosed with eye diseases were cured!
Getting ready for the 28th Pol'and'Rock Festival
Once the activities related to the Grand Finale come to an end, the GOCC Foundation commences its preparations for the 28th edition of Pol'and'Rock Festival, which is billed to take place between 4th-6th August 2022 at the Czaplinek-Broczyno Airfield, 7 km from Czaplinek, in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
31st Grand Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity will be held on 29th January 2021. The objective of the upcoming event will be announced this autumn.
