- The 32nd Grand Final of the Christmas Charity Orchestra will take place on Sunday 28 November this year. Its goal is to raise money for lung treatment after the pandemic
- Onet, the event's media sponsor, once again participated in the campaign via the website wosp.onet.pl You can donate to WOŚP
- In addition, an orchestra staff has also been set up in our editorial office, and journalists and RASP employees will collect money on the streets.
- One form of support for the orchestra is the Allegro Orchestra's Great Christmas Charity Auctions. We present one of the most surprising ones
- More important information can be found on the Onet home page
On January 28, for the 32nd time, the Great Christmas Charity Orchestra will perform throughout Poland and in many places around the world. this time The goal of the Grand Charity Christmas Orchestra finale is “Lungs after the pandemic. We play for children and adults!”The campaign slogan is “All is well here!”. Thousands of volunteers will collect money to buy medical equipment on the streets of cities and villages.
Auction of twins rescued by the orchestra
This is not the only way to support the orchestra. You can deposit money online. This option is offered by, among others: Onet. Just go to the dedicated WOŚP platform wosp.onet.pl And donate. It is also very popular Allegro Auctions for the Great Christmas Charity Orchestra.
Also check: Onet plays with WOŚP. You can donate through our website
One of the most interesting and amazing auctions (Here's a link to it) This year there is an item submitted by three-year-old twins – premature babies – Lena and Philip Sosnowski (with a little help from their parents). The babies were born very early, three months and one day premature. The Great Charity Christmas Orchestra helped save their lives and health. That's why they now want to thank and return at least part of the good that happened to them.
So, a unique piece is up for auction on the occasion of the 32nd Final, part of one of the most dangerous and inaccessible places in the world at the same time: the fence that separates North and South Korea. This is 15cm long barbed wire from the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). It has a certificate of authenticity.
In 2000, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, part of the metal fence separating the North from the South was removed and cut into exactly 150,000 squares. 625 pieces. Lena and Philip's mother – Natalia Szyozak, journalist and editorial secretary at Business Insider – managed to acquire one of them while living in the DMZ in 2023. The person who bids on this barbed wire will become the owner or owner of a piece of the unique history of the world and a valuable souvenir from One of the most amazing places on the planet. You can bid here.
Also check: Five minutes in North Korea. I went to the most guarded border in the world
The demilitarized zone is located only 50 kilometers from Seoul, the world's tenth largest economy. It was established more than 70 years ago after the Korean War to prevent the “uncontrolled resumption of conflict” between the two countries (the two countries are still officially at war). Stretching 250 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide (2 kilometers are under North Korean control, 2 kilometers to the south), ironically, despite its name, it has been called the most militarized border on Earth for years. All because there are nearly two million land mines buried on its territory, and every centimeter of them is tightly fenced with high barbed wire.
Natalia Szewczak in the demilitarized zone in Korea
Mother of twins: I have never been so afraid in my life
— I have never been as afraid in my life as I was on the day Lena and Philip were born. I never realized before that it was possible to do so much. Giving birth 3 months and 1 day premature cannot mean anything good. I knew anything could happen. Natalia remembers everything.
Lena and Philip were born at 26 weeks and day 6 of pregnancy and are therefore called extremely premature babies. Their weight is 900 and 1080 grams. After birth, they were placed on ventilators. It was December 26, 2020, in the middle of the pandemic.
Lena and Philip
— I saw them for the first time in the ICU, where I was transferred in a wheelchair a few hours after giving birth. Today I understand why so quickly. They lay in incubators connected to a tangle of tubes and cables. I couldn't even touch them with my finger, the slightest touch hurt them. The skin of premature babies is as thin as parchment – and has three layers instead of 12 – which stresses the mother of premature babies.
“These are some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard in my life.”
– If I had heard the doctor’s confirmation then: “Mrs. Natalia, only your children will become deaf,” I would have knelt in front of her with happiness, thanked her and ran away so as not to change her mind. Of course, such words were never spoken. Instead, I heard a painfully honest statement: “At this point, we are fighting for their lives, not their health.”
Lena and Philip spent 65 days in the hospital. When they left the hospital, the doctor said: Your children are in good health. – I always say that these are some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard in my life. 65 days ago, I would not have even dreamed of such a scenario – it was so unreal that it did not exist in my consciousness. Natalia admits that he simply was not in my world.
Lena and Philip were born prematurely
As the journalist emphasizes, throughout their stay in the hospital, they were in contact with things that the vast majority of people – fortunately – never had to deal with and probably never will: ventilators, incubators, CEPAPs, infant flow machines, heart and pulse monitors. Pulse oximeters, infusion chambers, kangaroo chairs. Many people probably don't even know what they are.
– These are the things that keep our premature twins alive and healthy. They are alive and well thanks to the help of the Great Christmas Charity Orchestra, which, over the years of its playing, has donated all this equipment to neonatal units in Poland. And also to the first house that was Lena and Philip's house – the Department of Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care. WOŚP at St. Zofia Hospital in Warsaw. So, if you have donated even one zloty to the Great Christmas Charity Orchestra, you have helped save our children. Thank you, says Natalia.
— Today, Lena and Philip are firm, smiling, healthy three-year-olds. The best thing that happened in our lives. We know how lucky we are and we are grateful for it every day, adds the mother of three-year-olds.
WOŚP has been playing for over 30 years
Lena and Filip gather for the second time at WOŚP. A year ago, they managed to raise the astronomical sum of PLN 23,000. 41 Polish zloty and 8 Grozy. They hope to exceed that amount this year. You will personally be able to put money in their boxes, because they will be collecting money on the streets of Warsaw on Sunday.
The Great Christmas Orchestra Charity Foundation is one of the most famous and trusted organizations in Poland. It was founded over 30 years ago by Jurek Ossiak. Since then, he has been organizing a fundraiser called “Grand Orchestra Christmas Charity Finale” every year – in January. The next session will be on Sunday, January 28 of this year. Onet is the event sponsor.
With the funds raised, the WOŚP Foundation purchases state-of-the-art medical equipment and donates it to children's hospitals in Poland. Since the beginning of its activity, the orchestra has raised approximately PLN 1.9 billion to support Polish medicine and has purchased more than 70,000. Health and life-saving devices.
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