Worthy childhood

Hania is a calm and quiet girl. She is not an outstanding student – she misses a lot of classes at school and then finds it difficult to catch up. When her classmates take out their second breakfast, she closes her eyes and clenches her fists until her nails hurt her rough skin. For three weeks, the girl's meals have been stale bread donated by a baker or expired food that her mother managed to find in store dumpsters. It's becoming increasingly difficult, as most dumpsters are now locked…

Hania's mother is desperate because she cannot take a job – there is still a sick one-year-old child at home. This three-person family spends almost all its income on rent and utility bills. 400 zł remains – the amount that the mother spends on trips to doctors and medication for Hania (who has had epilepsy for a year) and her brother (who is under the care of a neurologist and pulmonologist).

Pawełek fainted at school. The teacher called an ambulance. She suspected food poisoning. The boy was trembling, had a blue face, and was vomiting. During the rescue operation, the doctor, who had previously been on humanitarian missions, determined that the cause of the boy's health crisis was extreme malnutrition. When the boy's mother arrived at the hospital, it turned out that she was also malnourished and needed an IV. How did this happen? After 15 years, the woman escaped from her abusive husband. After their separation, he threatened to take the child away. He didn’t give her a penny for maintenance. She had never worked, so for the past three months, she had been unsuccessfully looking for employment. She was so afraid of her husband that she didn't want to ask any institution for help – she was afraid it would be used against her. She did everything to keep her problems a secret.

The number of families reporting to the Polish Red Cross is increasing. According to data published by GUS, the material situation of households has worsened in real terms, despite the growth of average monthly income. In practice, the increase in prices caused the household income per person in 2022 to decrease by 2.6% compared to the previous year. In 2022, the extreme poverty rate was 4.7%. Unfortunately, in the age group of 0-17 years, this rate is much higher, at almost 6%. Extreme poverty means minimum existence – it is such alow level of meeting needs, thathealth and life of a person are endangered.* *

Do you want to fund meals or a food package? For example:

The Polish Red Cross supports needy families on a daily basis by providing help in the form of food and hygiene packages and funding children's needs.Only in 2022 did over 130,000 children receive assistance from the Polish Red Cross in various forms.The Polish Red Cross has its branches throughout the country, which allows it to provide direct assistance to those who need it the most. By operating among local communities, it knows the people it supports and enjoys their trust.

Help with the Polish Red Cross:

* According to data from the “Poverty Watch 2023” report, this is as many as 396,000 children!

** Data come from the GUS report “The Extent of Economic Poverty in Poland in 2022.”

** Dane pochodzą z raportu GUS “Zasięg ubóstwa ekonomicznego w Polsce w 2022 roku”.