120 000 volunteers and 1700 local Collection Centres are now raising money to help ensure that all babies born in Poland have equal access to medical care.
The first Grand Finale charitable collection was meant to be a one-time event, helping Children's Memorial Health Institute to purchase equipment they needed to be able to perform cardiac surgery on babies. The televised fundraiser was a great success. So much so, that the team behind the charitable initiative decided to establish a foundation which would take the burden of organizing the charitable collection in the future years. In 1993 the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity was officially established as a non-governmental organisation operating under the Polish law.
25 years and 25 fundraisers later, the Orchestra is still playing - it is playing worldwide, with the help of 120 000 volunteers. The public charitable collection is organized as a grassroots initiative - people are coming together to hold local events, highlighting local talent, local enterprises, and bringing the local community together.
This year the charity extravaganza was officially kicked off in a studio in Warsaw, but the volunteers from some of the more remote locations - such as Tokio, Melbourne, and Perth have already finished their collection for the day. Current sum on the charitable counter - a bit over 10 million PLN, but the entire globe is playing with us to ensure that all babies born in Poland have equal access to medical care - regardless of where in the country they are born. The preliminary result of the charitable collection, which consists of public collection, online donations and auctions as well as other forms of support, such as corporate matching and social media donations, will be revealed at midnight today.
This year the charity extravaganza was officially kicked off in a studio in Warsaw, but the volunteers from some of the more remote locations - such as Tokio, Melbourne, and Perth have already finished their collection for the day. Current sum on the charitable counter - a bit over 10 million PLN, but the entire globe is playing with us to ensure that all babies born in Poland have equal access to medical care - regardless of where in the country they are born. The preliminary result of the charitable collection, which consists of public collection, online donations and auctions as well as other forms of support, such as corporate matching and social media donations, will be revealed at midnight today.
