Sponsorships
There are several different levels of sponsorship. You can do a full or partial sponsorship of a child, sponsor a family, sponsor a class or sponsor a project.
Sponsoring a child
Full sponsorship of a child is $20/month, or you can do a partial sponsorship of $10/month. You are also encouraged to write letters and send small gifts, if you are able. While you are welcome to send stuff directly to the child you sponsor, it is much more affordable to ship as a group and ship by sea. Keep in mind that it takes 2 months to reach Pogorzel by sea, so time your gifts accordingly. The Foundation provides translation services, as well as guidence and advice. Elizabeth has been to Pogorzel and knows most of these families personally. She can inform you of any special needs or situations affecting your child.
We realize it is easier for people to contribute monthly but the banking transfer fee is $25, regardless of how much money is sent. So, if you wish, the Foundation will take your monthly payment and send it, along with everyone else's, four times a year. The money is sent to help out at critical times: the beginning of summer, the beginning of school, Christmas and Easter. If you would prefer to contribute quarterly, that is fine. Just let us know and we will give you the schedule of when we are sending the money. Please see below for how the money is handled.
Photos of children and families needing sponsors
Meet our current sponsors and the families they sponsor!
Sponsoring a family
We have several families still in need of sponsorship. The normal donation is $100 to $150, four times a year: the beginning of summer, the beginning of school, Christmas and Easter. While this doesn't provide all the needs of a family, it does help them get through critical times. Many of our family sponsors build a relationship with the families in Pogorzel and try to help out when other specific needs arise. They also send gifts at Christmas, etc. As always, any help you can give is appreciated. What you give is up to you!
The banking transfer fee is $25, regardless of how much money is sent. So the Foundation will take your payment and send it along with everyone else's, if you wish. If you would prefer to contribute monthly, that is fine. Please see below for how the money is handled.
Sponsoring a class
We are looking for American classes who would like to sponsor Pogorzel classes. In this case, the children would become penpals and the American children would do a couple of projects a year. What projects they choose will be up to each class but some ideas are: collecting donations of school supplies; sending pictures, Christmas cards, Valentines cards, etc; collecting donations for the Warm Winter Project; fund raisers, etc. Creative project ideas are definately encouraged!!! For more information, contact Charissa at sassyartistphoto@yahoo.com.
Sponsoring a project
We have several different projects we are currently working on and we hope to continue adding more as we go. You can sponsor a whole project or contribute to any of them. Current list of projects
How the money is handled
The families themselves have no bank accounts, so we transfer all contributions to the account of our Polish volunteer. She then exchanges the money to Polish currency and sends it through the Polish mail system to the individual families. The families send proof that they recieved the money and that proof will be sent back to the contributor.
If you wish to send a financial donation directly to the school in Pogorzel, the account number is # PKO BP Goldap 1710204724 101000185 Elementary School in Pogorzel, Poland. Or you can make a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation and 100% of your donation will go to help the children and families in Pogorzel. There is a seperate bank account set up for the Foundation - the money isn't accumulating in anyone's personal bank account. ALL of the money recieved goes to help the children and families in Pogorzel. None of the founders or people working with the Help Children in Pogorzel, Poland Foundation recieve any money for their time - all of the work is done by volunteers. As a matter of fact, almost everyone involved puts their own money into helping the families. Elizabeth and Christopher, the founders, sponsor 3 families as well as paying much of the shipping costs and meeting other special needs that arise.
The Foundation helps with guidance, advice and translation services. If you have any questions, contact the founders, Elizabeth Zaremba-Swat and Christopher Swat, at helpchpog@yahoo.com or (203) 353-1963. Or you can contact our Virginia Beach volunteer, Charissa Potrafka, at help_pogorzel@yahoo.com or (757) 499-6779.
