From school hearts to children's smiles

The action “A Christmas gift for every child” is one of the longest-running initiatives of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie District Branch of the Polish Red Cross. For over 30 years, it has been uniting people of good will, schools, children, and parents for a common purpose - so that no child is left without a gift and a smile during the holiday season.

Every year, we start the action at the beginning of November, inviting schools and educational institutions from the region to participate in the preparations. It is the children, parents, and teachers - the donors - who decide for themselves whom they want to give a gift. While preparing the packages, they specify the age and gender of the child who will receive the gift, which makes the gifts better suited to the needs and interests of the recipients.

We encourage that the packages contain new, unused items - toys, plush animals, puzzles, books, or sweets. Such a gesture makes the joy of children even greater, and the magic of Christmas truly takes on exceptional meaning. The completed gifts are sent by the schools to our branch, from where - through us - they reach children from large families, mainly from rural areas and less affluent households.

The scale of this year's edition of the campaign was exceptional. While last year we managed to deliver 60 packages, this year the number of prepared gifts exceeded 300. One of the schools donated as many as 90 packages! A total of 11 educational institutions and one private individual - a lady from the forestry office, who also decided to contribute to this Christmas initiative - took part in the action.

Some of the packages went to children from the village of Nowy Dwór, where on December 17, 2025, a Christmas meeting took place in the village hall, combined with caroling and a visit from Santa Claus. The remaining gifts were handed over to school PCK circles, which took care of distributing them among the students most in need of support.

On behalf of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie District Branch of PCK and the children who received the gifts, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the schools and individuals involved in the action. Special thanks also go to Mrs. Sołtys of Nowy Dwór - Anna Kuter - for her help in organizing this beautiful, festive meeting in the village hall.

We hope that in the coming years, the action “A Christmas gift for every child” will continue to grow, and the upcoming year will bring another record and even more children's smiles.