27th RC Warszawa City Christmas Tree Gala

Unfortunately, this enormous flow of assistance has diminished considerably. At the Rotary Warszawa City club, we considered the purpose and theme of our annual Rotary Christmas Tree Gala. The decision was made very quickly: we are carrying out our major club grant project ‘stop cancer’ – ‘to stop cancer’, implemented with the Foundation of the Medical University of Warsaw, while at the same time, as last year, continuing to raise funds to support Ukraine.

And so, on 9 December 2023, we met our guests and friends of the club at the Regent Hotel in Warsaw for the 27th RC Warszawa City Christmas Tree Gala. Nearly 180 people joined us. The evening was hosted by Olena Shpak from Ukraine, Secretary of RC Warszawa City, and PDG Andrzej Ludek. As is customary, the Gala was opened by the serving Club President, Yuksel Caglar. Distinguished guests included our honorary member Senator Marek Borowski, former Marshal of the Sejm, and Professor Zbigniew Gaciong, Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw, representing our grant partner.

We began the gathering with a special film presentation of our work for Ukraine since the start of Russian aggression. There was plenty to show: our two strands of activity, supporting refugees from Ukraine in Poland and delivering humanitarian aid directly to Ukraine, had long since exceeded €700,000 in financial value. There were many projects, ranging from supplies of food, personal water filters, ambulances (three), power generators and hospital equipment, support for refugees in Poland (accommodation, food and medical care), and a professional support programme for Ukrainian women running businesses in Poland, to a major grant involving more than a dozen Rotary clubs, worth over US$180,000, for professional, high-capacity water treatment stations in the Zaporizhzhia region. We also managed to include two scholarship recipients in our club grant: young pathologists from Ukraine who undertook training in Warsaw and Vienna. Our objectives and projects are very specific. Based on an analysis of the situation in Kryvyi Rih, we therefore decided to raise funds to support kindergartens operating in wartime conditions, using special shelters where children take refuge during air raid alerts as Russian aggressors launch bombing attacks. We decided to send these kindergartens oil-filled radiators, bedding, towels and educational toys for the children.

The gathering featured a concert by ‘Spiwanoczki’, a quartet of young Ukrainian singers who came especially for our club celebration. The evening’s main attraction was the Silesian Jazz Orchestra, a big band of more than a dozen musicians led by Sigmunda Lindnera, which got the Gala guests into the spirit of the evening. The auction of valuable items was introduced by a film shot in Kryvyi Rih, showing the lives of kindergarten children in wartime conditions. Among the many attractive lots, those sent to us from Ukraine caused a particular sensation. Children from Kherson had decorated fragments of Russian missiles, which fall daily on defenceless civilians, with their drawings. We called these little works of art made by children ‘angels’ tears’. The auction was led by Robert Tondera, actor and Rotarian from RC Warszawa Józefów, and our club’s Past President Alex Kartsel.

After the excellent dinner at the Regent Hotel, and indeed after dessert, it was time to draw the main prizes in the club raffle. As usual, these included valuable trips and stays donated by our partner clubs in Milan and Berlin. More than 50,000 złoty was raised for club projects, including the programme supporting Ukraine in its struggle. Each guest received a badge, a rosette in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, made by the children and their kindergarten teachers in Kryvyi Rih.