The Polish Red Cross brings holiday aid to those in need

For over 20 years, the Red Cross has been carrying out aid activities under the slogan: "Exchange hunger for dignity." This year we want to: "Exchange hungry holidays for dignified holidays."

The Polish Red Cross – fighting for the dignity of every human being – wants to help all the poor, sick, and lonely during the holidays. The Red Cross's holiday campaign with the slogan #DignifiedHolidays is underway. Financial and material collections are being conducted throughout the country. The collected funds and donations will allow for the organization of true holidays, which, thanks to the support of kind people and Red Cross volunteers, have a chance to be a time of respite and hope.

The Polish Red Cross sees the problem of poverty, malnutrition, and social exclusion. We do not agree that in Poland – especially during the holidays – there are hungry children or lonely and helpless seniors. We desire dignified, warm, and joyful moments and holiday gatherings for everyone. Therefore, in this year's campaign, we want to help all those who need assistance. Sharing multiplies goodness! – says Michał Mikołajczyk, Member of the Board of the Polish Red Cross.

Extreme poverty in Poland is a real problem. Objective reports and data confirm this. According to the report of the Central Statistical Office "The Extent of Economic Poverty in Poland in 2022" [2023], the average material situation of households has actually deteriorated, among other reasons due to high inflation and rising prices. 1.8 million citizens live in extreme poverty, which means that one in twenty people in Poland exists under these very difficult conditions. And it is these people who need support the most during the holiday season.

The annual report "Poverty Watch," edited by Professor Ryszard Szarfenberg from the University of Warsaw, analyzes the level and extent of poverty in Poland. Researchers focus on child poverty, poverty among the elderly, poverty among people with disabilities, as well as the poverty of working individuals. In the Red Cross shelters for women and men in crisis situations, there are also poor individuals who are employed. Their incomes remain so low that they cannot afford to rent an apartment or room to live independently. Meanwhile, for those who are inactive professionally but capable of working, and do not have the right to unemployment benefits, there is only the periodic allowance from social assistance – a maximum of 388 PLN. In a single-person household, the extreme poverty threshold currently stands at 692 PLN, and for a four-person household – 1868 PLN. These are the amounts that ensure the minimum standard of living.

The Polish Red Cross helps throughout the year: distributing social assistance, conducting vocational activation courses, caring for meals for children and youth, and ensuring decent living conditions for the elderly and people with disabilities. During the holiday season, we intensify our aid activities and seek support for those in need. Volunteers at this special time deliver food packages to homes, provide companionship, and support solitary and marginalized individuals with daily activities. The food packages distributed by the Red Cross contain food items needed for preparing holiday gatherings. Lonely individuals are invited to Christmas Eve dinners. Just last year, Red Cross chapters organized 160 such gatherings for beneficiaries from Poland and Ukraine. Thanks to the generosity of donors, volunteers and staff of the Red Cross delivered 85,000 aid packages, worth over 13.5 million PLN.

Data from Eurostat shows that the inability to provide oneself with meat, fish, or vegetarian meals (at least once every two days) has increased from 3.6 to 4.1 percent. The situation has deteriorated and is expected to worsen further according to forecasts. Therefore, human empathy, charity, and the willingness to share with others are so important today. For almost 105 years, the Polish Red Cross has been helping people in difficult situations. The mission of the organization is to prevent human suffering and mitigate its effects while protecting human dignity, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, gender, religious, or political beliefs.

The founder of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, was a man sensitive to human misfortune, generous, and engaged in many charitable activities. He started in Geneva as a merchant but abandoned business for the idea of humanitarianism. The Polish Red Cross continues his work by offering support to thousands in need. The organization is an effective link between those who want to help and those who often desperately need assistance.

Everyone can join the Polish Red Cross's #DignifiedHolidays campaign by offering their time or financial resources to help those in need:

• Millennium Bank: 30 1160 2202 0000 0003 4816 8475 with the note "Dignified Holidays,"

• BLIK – tel. 794 33 22 11 with the title "Dignified Holidays."

More detailed information about the #DignifiedHolidays campaign can be found at: www.pck.pl/swieta