Primary school in Silesia named after Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity

The school director, Jolanta Mazur, said during Wednesday's naming ceremony that "it was a huge dream of the whole school community".

"The parents were even recollecting situations when their kids were in hospital or were born in difficult circumstances, and how the equipment purchased by the foundation (GOCC Foundation - edit.) saved lives and health of our students," Mazur added.

One of the founders of the GOCC, Jerzy Owsiak, was the ceremony's guest of honor.

"We are super proud because the school is incredible. It's a facility with a program which intergrates all children and from the earliest age," Owsiak said.

"Not only have we decided to come here, but also asked the boss they need anything," he added, promising the foundation would buy rehabilitation equipment worth 200,000 zlotys.

Apart from Jerzy Owsiak, the ceremony was attended by city mayor Małgorzata Mańka-Szulik, head of the city council Łucja Chrzęstek-Bar as well as city's education board Ewa Wolnica.

The city council voted in favour of naming the school after the charity on July 10, 2023. The request was filed jointly by the teachers and the parents. In the vote, 15 councillors were in favour, 5 were against, and another 5 abstained.

The director stressed that the school community has chosen the GOCC as its patron because the charity "reflects the values and beliefs we cherish in our everyday work".

"Our school - unlike any other - shelters in its walls the highest number of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity's pupils - the kids who require specialized care, support and education from the very first months of their lives," Jolanta Mazur wrote.

Pursuant to the city council resolution, the school has been named after the GOCC since Sept. 1, 2023. It is the first educational facility in Poland to bear the name of the charity.

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation has been officially registered in Warsaw in March 1993. The founders are Jerzy Owsiak, Lidia Niedźwiedzka-Owsiak, Bohdan Maruszewski, Piotr Burczyński, Paweł Januszewicz, Walter Chełstowski, and Beata Bethke.

The first Grand Finale fundraiser was held in January 1993 - at first, it was meant to be a one-off happening to raise money for the cardiac surgery ward at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Warsaw. The spectacular success of the first effort, which enabled the foundation to divide the money between all cardiology units treating children in Poland, inspired the establishment of the GOCC Foundation.