WOŚP

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, WOŚP) is the biggest, non-governmental, non-profit, charity organization in Poland.

During my first January in Warsaw, we got a sticker on the street and gave some money. The sticker was a red heart and people stick it on anything they want, to show their support.

My wife explained me what the charity established and I got curious to know more.
So here we go.

WOŚP aims to support health care in Poland by purchasing state of the art medical equipment for Polish hospitals and clinics and by establishing and running six medical programmes and one educational programme.

The foundation also organizes the biggest open-air free entry music festival in Europe - Woodstock Festival Poland.

The charity has been officially founded in 1993 by Jerzy Owsiak, Lidia Niedźwiedzka-Owsiak, Bohdan Maruszewski, and Piotr Burczyński. A few years before Jerzy Owsiak established the name WOŚP and he still is the face of the charity.

Jerzy Owsiak

Controversy
There has been some controversy about the fact that Owsiak receives a modest monthly salary from the Charity's raised funds.
The fact that he puts an awful lot of time in the project and that he organizes the free entrance festival Woodstock, some people seem to forget. Charities are being screened very strict in Europe and WÓSP has an excellent rating published by the authorities. Simple souls, the man does great work for Poland. We need more of them not less.

Mission
The main objective, at that time, was "Protecting Health and Saving Children's Lives by Providing Medical Equipment to Public Hospitals".

Help during disasters

In 2004 the charity raised money for the victims of tsunami in Sri Lanka. In 2010, after southern Poland has been struck by flooding a special fundraiser was held in aid of flood relief.

Every year, millions of Poles donate to the Foundation and throughout 25 Grand Finales, the Foundation collected around 150 million USD.

The Grand Finale fundraiser takes place on a Sunday in January. The day-long public fundraiser is held in Poland and everywhere where there is an active Polish community, so also abroad.

Fireworks
The day ends with a fireworks display which takes place in front of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw.

Each Grand Finale has a specific medical objective. This year's Grand Finale takes place on Sunday the 14th of January, edition number 26.

I expect another record breaking of donations will be accomplished. Surely we will contribute.