WOŚP results officially announced at the UCC WUM hospital

"We ended the Finale of the 34th WOŚP edition with PLN 263,477,929.83!" announced Jerzy Owsiak during a press conference organized at the Pediatric Teaching Clinical Hospital UCC WUM.

Jerzy Owsiak, the president of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP) Foundation, recalled what had been done during the 33-year operation of the WOŚP. His speech was accompanied by a film documenting events in the life of the foundation. 

Journalists could also listen to what Zosia, who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, wrote in a letter to the foundation. The girl described in the letter how WOŚP helped children like her. 

"Such letters give us strength," said Jerzy Owsiak. "Many people ask me 'Haven't you had enough?' Yes, often yes, but much more often – no. We will play until the end of the world and one day longer. We will help each other," announced the president of the WOŚP.

The announcement of the results of the 34th Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity was the key point of the conference. The WOŚP managed to collect PLN 263,477,929.83. The money will be used to supply gastroenterological departments. The foundations has already managed to buy four devices that have not been available in Polish hospitals so far, i.e., endoscopic ultrasound machines for children. 

At the end of the conference, Prof. Rafał Krenke, the Rector of WUM together with Marzena Kowalczyk, the Director of the UCC WUM, thanked Jerzy Owsiak and the entire Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation on behalf of all centers in Poland.

"We would like to express our utmost respect for you," said the Rector, presenting a commemorative medal in recognition of the service to the University Clinical Center. “Red hearts are the symbol of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, these hearts also beat in us.” 

“We received donations in the form of medical equipment in each and every Finale. Therefore, we are able to provide services at the highest level. We would like to thank the president of the foundation – Jerzy Owsiak, the management board and all those who work for this common good," emphasized UCC WUM Director, Marzena Kowalczyk.

The conference brought together not only journalists, but also employees of the WOŚP Foundation and members of its board – Lidia Niedźwiedzka-Owsiak, Prof. Bohdan Jarosław Maruszewski and Prof. Piotr Burczyński, as well as UCC WUM employees, e.g., Dr Michał Buczyński, Deputy Director for Medicine at the Pediatric Teaching Clinical Hospital UCC WUM and Prof. Mariusz Kuśmierczyk, the Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantation, Central Clinical Hospital UCC WUM.