We check in with the KALYNA Foundation scholarship holders
There are over 100,000 foundations and public benefit organisations in Poland. Each of them, despite carrying out socially important and useful missions, operates in an extremely competitive market. This is because they have to raise public awareness of the issues they deal with and actively secure resources to maintain and implement their tasks. At the same time, they must build their own image, brand and reach to be even more effective. Not every organisation thrives in such a commercial environment, yet what they do is important and necessary. That’s why philanthropy is the role of a mature business. And that is why we support those who care about others.
Our commitment to support the work of KALYNA
For almost six years, since the establishment of KALYNA, the Polish-Ukrainian-Canadian Scholarship Foundation, we have been a partner and patron of this small but highly effective organisation, which supports scholars and artists dealing with the difficult question of Polish-Ukrainian relations, and assists in providing opportunities to study in Poland for the children of Ukrainian soldiers, killed or seriously injured in the defence of their homeland.
As every year, in mid-June, our Warsaw office hosted members of the Council, comprising of Grażyna Staniszewska, Prof Andrzej Friszke, Prof Tomasz Stryjek, Janina Kuźma, Ewa Pocztar, Rev Artur Graban, Adam Stec and Piotr Kochański, our Managing Partner.
Achievements and publications
At the beginning of the meeting, Mrs Grażyna Staniszewska, President of the Foundation’s Management Board, presented a factual and financial report on KALYNA’s activities in the past year. After the discharge was passed, the meeting decided to establish a representative office in Canada, with Adam Stec being responsible for the effective work in this regard.
Council members also reviewed the performance of existing scholarship holders, students from Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, the AGH University of Krakow, Jagiellonian University and the Vistula University in Warsaw. They also considered new applications from candidates who dream of studying in Poland.
It is very encouraging to see that, despite the ongoing war, life, including intellectual and academic life, continues and develops consistently. Just as Kalyna’s capacities are expanding, says Piotr Kochański.
And this is a signal to us that we must not cease in our efforts to support the Foundation and raise funds not only for these important scholarships, but also for new initiatives that we are only discussing today, adds our Managing Partner.
Last year, in addition to academic scholarships, KALYNA also supported scientific and artistic work, resulting in the publication of Mariusz Sawa’s book „Pociski jak paciorki różańca” (“Bullets Like Rosary Beads”) and two essay collections „Polska i Ukraina: przeszłość i przyszłość” (“Poland and Ukraine: Past and Future”) by Adam Balcer and Nadia Koval.
KALYNA’s new plans for 2024 and 2025
KALYNA representatives intend to expand the Foundation’s activities, both in terms of the number of people supported, more systemic activities and the involvement of new Canadian partners.
Therefore, among the plans and tasks for 2024 and 2025, in addition to the projects implemented so far, they mention the establishment of cooperation with Canadian companies and paid internship programmes for young Ukrainians, as well as the start of work on a school textbook, thanks to which Polish and Ukrainian students will have the opportunity to learn and understand their common history and to take pride in the heritage that links our two nations.
Although these are difficult and time-consuming undertakings, we are giving them our full support.
Read more about the Foundation’s activities to date.
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