The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy (The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity) is the
biggest and most prosperous charity organization in Poland. Its objectives, included in
the status document, are saving children's lives, health promotion and education in the
field of preventive treatment. Between 1993 and 2006
The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity has collected and spent over $65 mln for
saving lives. Besides humanitarian work, the Foundation is also a powerful medium
spreading the ideology of kindness, friendship, tolerance, and openness.
In 1992, Jurek Owsiak, a well-established performer and the author of an avant-garde TV
and radio shows, used his pop-culture status to help under-financed Pediatric Cardio
Surgery Division in The Children Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw.
n his TV show, targeting very young and considered rebellious audiences, he said that
cardio surgeons from The Children Memorial Health Institute can not perform surgeries
on babies with inborn hearts defects due to the lack of funds for the medical equipment
and they count on the financial support. Owsiak encouraged his audiences to join
the forces and help. His idea was to combine rock'n'roll, fun, and charity. He believed
in the great potential of the people getting together regardless of weather they have
much or little money.
In March of 1992, Jerzy registered the Foundation The Great Orchestra of
Christmas Charity. Jerzy Owsiak, Lidia Niedzwiedzka-Owsiak, Bohdan Maruszewski,
and Piotr Burczyński have become the members.
On the first Sunday of 1993 he organized a nation-wide
action. He invited Poles all around the country to set up
concerts, creative happenings, and parties during which
they could collect change that would be later on put on
The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity account. It
was The Great Finale. Thousands of people participated
in the action. The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
collected over 1,5 mln of USD! The sum was spent for
the highly modern and professional equipment for 10
Pediatric Cardio Surgery Divisions in Poland.
Even though, The Great Final Day was supposed
to be a one-time event it turned to be such a
smashing success that Jurek Owsiak and the
doctors from Children Memorial Health Institute
repeated the whole thing next year, and then year
after that. Eventually, The Great Final Day
became a tradition. The sum of collected money
increases every year.
In ten years, the Foundation has completed 8 gigantic
projects. It has bought the medical equipment needed on
the numerous pediatric divisions specializing in: cardiosurgery, neonatal medicine, oncology, post-traumatic
surgery, pediatric nephrology, diagnostics, newborns'
surgery, and newborns & children under 5 years old
divisions.
All together, over 10 thousands Pieces of the
Most Modern Medical Equipment for Polish
Public Hospitals was bought and distributed in
public hospitals all around Poland. Among
others, Foundation has bought: ambulances,
incubators, physiologic monitors, oxygen
blenders, infusion and drainage pumps,
pulse oximeters, infant ventilators, new
beds, anti-bed-sore mattresses, and many
more.