01/12/20

Light up the Sky for Paweł Adamowicz


Grand Finale fundraiser might be challenging to explain to people who have never experienced such a massive and unified movement of people. These people decide to be happy, decide to be kind to each other and to give their time, skills, and money to help the most vulnerable children.


The day of the fundraiser passes in a whirlwind of activity, but there is one moment when everyone pauses to gaze, hopefully into the sky. Traditionally, we intend to send a message to the Good Angels to show then that here, on Earth are people who have wings too. We might be raising money to support Polish hospitals, but we are far from being indifferent to the suffering of others. We are opening our hearts to the people f Australia. Their homeland is ravaged by fire, and we wanted to show that we are thinking about them, that we know about their struggle and that we - as humans will be united to help them rebuild.


As a massive Australian flag floated over the heads of the crowds gathered in Warsaw, we saw that there are hundreds of hands itching to help and hundreds of hearts beating in solidarity with the people of Australia.


Thanks to the power of modern technology, we travelled to Gdańsk, where we remembered our friend, Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz. We thanked all people who, when faced with an atrocious act of hate, decided to respond with acts of kindness, selflessness and support.


A year ago, we stopped - that was the most challenging moment in the history of our charity. Three weeks ago I met up with Magda, Paweł Adamowicz' wife. We decided that we wanted to celebrate the victory of hope, rather than dwell on the tragedy. We wanted to speak about solidarity - how much we need this solidarity
-Jurek Owsiak, Chairman of the Board of the GOCC

Following the tragic event in Gdańsk, the online community on Facebook raised funds to fill up "President Adamowicz' Last Collection Box". It was the loudest response to the tragedy, and as PLN 16 000 000 was raised, the Board of the GOCC decided to use the funds to buy equipment for hospitals in Adamowicz' native Gdańsk.


photos by Lucyna Lewandowska, Dominik Malik