Voluntary service

In the beginning, volunteering was not organized by any institutions. With time, churches started to organize help for the poor and people in need.

In the second half of 20th century, non-governmental organizations, called NGOs started to appear.

Volunteering in post-war Poland was limitedto Polish Scouting Association.

After 1990 Polish non- governmental organizations started to develop.

What is volunteering? Volunteering is a voluntary and

consciously taken activity for the benefit of other people. It is addressed to people, who are not our family and friends.

Voluntary activities are not paid, but they bring a person a lot of other benefits, for example satisfaction, fulfilment and realisations of ambitions.

Who is a volunteer?

• It is a person, who turned 16 years old;• They should be communicative, cheerful,

ready to help without pay; • They should be characterized by empathy,

responsibility and patience.

Where can volunteers work ?

Volunteers are present in institutions, whereThey can work for the good of other people:

in schools, hospitals, hospices, orphanages, NGOs.

However, volunteering is not action only forother people. It can also mean taking care of

monuments and objects of national and cultural heritage.

Why are they needed?

• They can perform work part-time;• They raise awareness, funds to help the

organization;• They have new and original ideas, they

are not limited by the structure of the organizations;

• They add more credibility to the action of the organizations.

Voluntary organizations in Poland:

The most popular organization in Poland, where volunteers work, is Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy (The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity). Its founder and organizer of its actions is Jurek Owsiak.

WOŚP has been operating for 18 years. They achieved a great success, collecting over 395 million PLN. (98 750 000 EUR)

Founded on 2nd March 1993, itstarget is helping people, especiallychildren, by providing hospitals with medical equipment, initiating medicalexaminations for children on the nationalscale, and organizing life-saving courses for young people.

Medical equipment donated by The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity

On a Sunday in January, the whole country gathers together to collect money for Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy. Thousands of volunteers around Polish cities and towns walk along the streets asking people to help.

Volunteers collecting money.

Warsaw during the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity

Other Polish institutions that organize work of volunteers and focus on helping others are:

• Caritas Poland

• Polish Humanitarian Organization

• Polish Red Cross

Caritas Poland

This action is focused on helping the poor.Among other things, it organizes manycollections of food for the most needy

families in Poland.

Polish Humanitarian Organization

This charity organizes missions to foreign countries, like Chechnya and Afghanistan, where they build schools, water wells, etc. and in Poland they organize a nationwide campaing called „Pajacyk”, which aims at feeding children from poor families at their schools.

Polish Red Cross

Polish Red Cross deals with caringactivities like social services, promotingand organizing blood donation, helpingvictims of disaster situations at homeand abroad.

Polish Red Cross

Polish Red Cross deals with the other caringactivities, with social services, promotingand organizing blood donation, help victimsand disaster situations at home and abroad,dissemination of humane.

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Gorlice

Last year, WOŚP collected money for sick children in Gorlice. 150 volunteers collected 43 159, 33 PLN in the entire district. Altogether the people of Gorlice gave over 60 000 PLN (15 000 EUR) for WOŚP.

Caritas in Gorlice Gorlice district manages the following institutions:• Kitchen for the poor- was opened on 16th May 1996. There you

can buy food and dinners. In this way you support the poor people in our town.

• Rehabilitation-protective house for 50 children and disabled young people with mental handicap.

Źródła grafiki / sources od graphics : - weblog.infopraca.pl

- wolontariat.org.pl - opierkunowie.pl- odyssei.com/wolontariat- picasaweb.google.com- un.org - digart.pl- caritas.pl- swidnica.caritas.pl- malopolska.naszemiasto.pl- grpck.czechowice-dziedzice.pl - polishaid.gov.pl- pck.pl

Thank you for your attention