Polish Home Foundation

Polish Home Foundation

2004 Report Summary

Feb 28, 2005

Dear Friends of the Foundation,

This is a brief summary of PHF activities in 2004. It was a second full year in which the Foundation could focus on its core mission of promoting Polish heritage in the Pacific-Northwest and supporting events and issues important for our Polish-American community. It was another very successful year for our organization.

Foundation Activity in 2004

Events the Foundation organized or helped with

The Foundation organized or was involved directly in the following events:

Roman Czarny concert, February
Wiktor: the Art of Survival fundraiser and exhibition, March
Poles in Central Asia: lives, fates and traces, a lecture by Dr. Olga Medvedeva and an exhibition at the University of Washington, April
Fundraising at the spring Bazaar at the Polish Home, April
Poles in Central Asia exhibits at the Polish Home in Seattle and at the St. Margaret’s Parish in Seattle, May-June
Wiktor: the Art of Survival exhibit at St. Margaret’s, May
A lecture on Baikal and Buryats by J. and S. Pagacz at the Polish Home, June
Poles in Central Asia and W iktor exhibits at the Polish Parish in Tacoma, August
Warsaw Uprising 1944 documentary exhibition, at the Polish Home, September 10-19, at the Seattle City Hall, September 23 – October 7
63 Days and Nights book exhibition, at the Polish Home Sep 19,at the Seattle Central Library, October 2
CNN documentary movie and a public lecture by prof. Marek Chodakiewicz at the Seattle Central Library, October 2
High school educational campaign about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, September
Fundraising at the fall Bazaar at the Polish Home, November
Distributing copies of the AIPC documentary about Warsaw Uprising in Puget Sound area, November-December
Meeting with the roller-blader Krzysztof Dzienniak at the Polish Home, December

Helping with

fundraiser for the Polish School, January
fundraiser for Radio Wisla, the Polish language radio station, April
fundraiser for ventilation for the Polish Home, spring

The Foundation also helped raising money for individuals in medical emergency.

Other events the Foundation supported financially:

The following events in Seattle were organized by others but supported financially by the PHF through grants

· the 60^th Anniversary concert commemorating the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, (September 19, grant of $250), organized by the Polish Home Assn.

· the Wesele Poety concert (November 20, grant of $300), organized by Mr. Tomasz Aleksander

The 60^th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising

The biggest event organized by the Foundation in 2004 was the series commemorating the 60^th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. Our main goal was to go beyond the Polish community and to present the Uprising in the appropriate historical context to the American public in Seattle.

The Foundation helped in the organization of an anniversary concert at the Polish Home, organized a documentary exhibition both at the Polish Home and at the Seattle City Hall, co-organized a book exhibition in the same two places, organized a public lecture by Prof. Chodakiewicz and a screening of the CNN documentary at the Seattle Central Library, donated books, videos and DVDs related to the Warsaw Uprising and Polish resistance during WWII to the Seattle Central Library as well as to the UW Suzzallo Library and carried on a high school educational campaign by sending information packages about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising to all the high schools in Seattle and Eastside.

The documentary exhibits organized by Mr. Ryszard Kott were based on the high quality exhibition prepared by the Polish Consulate General from Los Angeles and included a display honoring American airmen who died in a mission over Warsaw, prepared by Mr. Krzysztof Poraj-Kuczewski. The book exhibition was organized by Ms. Hanna Gil of the Polish Book Club in Seattle. The event at the City Hall was co-organized by the Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association with help by Mr. Glen Lee and events at the Seattle Central Library were co-organized by the Seattle Public Libraries with help by Mr. Leszek Chudzinski. Prof. Chodakiewicz’s visit was coordinated with and supported by the UW Polish Studies Committee with help from Mr. Tom Podl and Ms. Martha Golubiec.

Donations

In 2004, the Foundation received about 130 donations and matching gift donations in cash for a total of $18,761 and also several donations in kind: folk art sold at the spring bazaar, a copier-printer-scanner granted to Radio Wisla, a wide-screen Sony TV granted to the Polish Home and miscellaneous items such as books, bracelets and folk art sold at the fall bazaar.

Grants

Besides the grants supporting the events mentioned above, in 2004 the PHF issued the following grants:

· $2250 to Blue Mountain Pictures of California towards the Wiktor: the Art of Survival documentary movie, March & April

· $350 towards the equipment cost to the Polish School in Seattle, April

· $1200 to the Mariola Blonska Benevolent Fund, April

· A Lexmark copier-printer-scanner to Radio Wisla of Seattle, May

· A wide-screen Sony TV to the Polish Home Association in Seattle, August

· $500 to Radio Wisla of Seattle to support Polish language broadcasting, Sep

· $250 to support the 60^th Anniversary concert commemorating 1944 Warsaw Uprising to the Polish Home Association in Seattle, November

· Books est. at $500 related to Warsaw Uprising to the Seattle Central Library and University of Washington Suzzallo Library, December

· $611 to the Polish Home Association for improvements of the audio equipment wiring at the upper hall, December

The Foundation has also bought a total of $432 worth of ads as means of supporting Radio Wisla.

Plans for 2005

The main focus of the Foundation activities in 2005 will be a fundraiser for the Polish Home; the goal is to collect enough money to add an elevator to the building to make it fully accessible and improve functionality of the building. The fundraiser will continue over the spring and fall of 2005. We will support Seattle Polish Film Festival in April and will organize the Pierogi Fest in May. We will also be involved in organizing an exhibition commemorating 25^th anniversary of Solidarity. Please visit our website for the current information about events organized and supported by the Foundation.

The Foundation invites supporters and volunteers

The Foundation enjoys support from many corners in our community. Everybody can become a PHF member or volunteer. If you would like to help in PHF activities such as raising money for the elevator at the Polish Home or with events organized by the Foundation, please contact Ryszard Kott or other officers. We need your help and support for our common good and invite everybody to join our efforts.