Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity raises over EUR 27 mln for children
Poland's Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOSP), which held its 28th finale on Sunday, had collected over PLN 100 mln (ca EUR 27 mln) by midnight to buy equipment for children's hospitals, the foundation tweeted on Monday.
The final amount of the collection is expected to be officially announced by the WOSP Foundation, headed by Jerzy Owsiak, in March.
In this year's annual campaign, some 120,000 volunteers collected donations across Poland and in many cities abroad, including in Canada, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand and the US. The funds will be used for "upgrading diagnostic and treatment standards in pediatric interventional medicine."
In Australia, the charity was raising funds to combat raging mass fires.
Sunday's Grand Finale was accompanied, as in previous years, by a large number of events, including concerts, sports competitions, auctions and outdoor performances.
Among items put up for auction was a replica of the Nobel Medal for literature received by Olga Tokarczuk and a dinner with Robert Lewandowski, a world-class Polish footballer.
Over the 27 years of its operations, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity has spent over PLN 1.1 billion (EUR 260.0 million) to buy various kinds of medical equipment. Last year alone, the Orchestra gathered funds totalling PLN 176 million (EUR 40.7 million).
WOSP's first collection for medical equipment took place in 1993. Throughout the year, WOSP buys medical equipment via tenders organised by the foundation. Thanks to the work of the foundation, many medical centres in Poland have received state-of-the-art equipment that helps save children's lives.
