The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity broke yet another fundraising record - bringing a fractured society together in a show of solidarity, friendship, and generosity at the same time. The fundraiser, which is held annually since 1993, is one of the most important social events in the country.
This year's edition of the Grand Finale fundraiser took place on Sunday, January 12th, and today, we were able to announce that we have raised a record-breaking sum of PLN 186 133 610,66 in aid of children's surgery. The result of the fundraiser comprises of the public collection (PLN 116 707 864,39) online support (PLN 68 804 108,17) and the worth of equipment gifted by the manufacturers of medical equipment (PLN 621 668,10 ) which will be donated to public hospitals across the country.
Jurek Owsiak announced the fundraiser result in Warsaw. photo: Łukasz Widziszowski
Grand Finale fundraiser is arguably the most significant public charitable collection drive in Poland. The objective of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is to buy medical equipment for public healthcare in Poland, with a focus on supporting paediatric care. Each Grand Finale collection has a carefully chosen objective - a branch of medicine our charity will support. This year, the primary purpose of the Grand Finale fundraiser was children's surgery and subsequent treatment. Our charity aims to buy medical devices for operating rooms, such as operating tables, surgery lamp systems, surgical instruments, and anaesthesiology machines and equipment for intensive care units, where the youngest patients are cared for and monitored after the surgery.
The fundraiser, which is held annually by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation, is made possible by the involvement of over 120 000 volunteers internationally. The collection is held nationwide and internationally by locally-based Collection Centres, which organize different fundraising events. The work of the Collection Centres creates a real backbone for local communities, becoming one of the elements of vibrant, creative, and active civil society. There were 1750 Collection Centres fundraising in aid of our charity, with over 100 local hubs of the GOCC based overseas in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia, Spain, Indonesia, Ireland, Canada, Luxembourg, Mexico, Germany, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, the US, Switzerland, Sweden, Thailand, Tanzania, Hungary, and the UK.
