PSFCU Helps Bring Smiles to Seriously Ill Children Again

For the fourth consecutive year, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union’s annual “Children’s Holiday Smile” brought out the best in the credit union’s members, as more than 4,600 donated a total of $104,567 to benefit seriously ill children being treated at various Polish hospitals, as well as here in the U.S. More Than $500,000 Raised Over The Past Four Years To Benefit Numerous Children’s Hospices.

Partnering with New York’s Children’s Smile Foundation, PSFCU launched this year’s charity drive the day after Thanksgiving, concluding on Dec. 31.  Three Polish children’s hospices were the beneficiaries of this year’s fundraising drive: The Silesian Children’s Hospice Foundation for Children in Tychy ($22,030), which was recommended by Poland First Lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda; The Little Prince Children’s Hospice in Lublin ($37,857), the only homecare and inpatient hospice for children in southeast Poland; and the Warsaw Children’s Hospice Foundation ($20,566).  An additional $24,113 was donated to the Children’s Smile Foundation to aid sick Polish-American children being treated at New York area hospitals and hospices.

The initial “Children’s Holiday Smile” campaign began in 2014.  Since then, more $500,000 has been raised to aid seriously ill children in Poland and the U.S.  To ensure that every dollar donated makes a difference, PSFCU delivers 100 percent of the donations directly to the hospices. “This has become a Christmas tradition for our credit union and our members,” said Bogdan Chmielewski, CEO of PSFCU.  “Every year, our members show their compassion, generosity and willingness to share with those in need.  What pleases me the most is that the fundraiser is now a permanent item on the calendar of Polish community events.  And it certainly is rewarding to know that we’ve successfully collected a half-million dollars for seriously ill children.”

Previous recipients of the annual holiday fundraiser include the Rzeszow Children’s Hospice; the Help Them Hospice in Bialystock; the Alma Spei Children’s Hospice in Krakow; the Gajusz Hospice in Lodz; the Rev. Jozef Tischner Memorial Hospice in Krakow; and the Blessed Rev. Michal Sopocko Memorial Hospice in Vilnius, Lithuania.