Credit for such a success lies obviously in our Polish community but also in an enormous afford of lots of people involved in this project without whom it wouldn’t be possible. Our gratitude goes first and foremost to the owner of the WNVR 1030AM, Mr. Walter Kotaba who gave us two days of air waves for free. It is a costly and wonderful gesture and for that we will be always grateful. Also, we would like to express our deep appreciation to Ms. Joanna Bochenek – vice president of the Polamer for her support and personal involvement in this event as well as Polish TV Station Polvision with Ms. Joanna Pokropek for constant presence in Foundation’s life and day-to-day operations. Because of their combined support and care our 12th Radiothon could become a great and unprecedented success. It’s been a couple of days since these intense days and from that perspective we can say that success could happen because the listeners found our program interesting, honest, straight foreword and with a personal approach and responded accordingly. And we are deeply moved by that.

Very personal involvement of the radio’s staff played important role as well. Rafal Jurak – a lifelong and dear friend of the Foundation made sure that everything was under control and appropriate and kept our program well organized and meaningful. The same, very professional approach to the event showed Krzysztof Arsenowicz and Malgorzata Ptaszynska who have put lots of thoughts into their segments and it showed. Mr. Marek Rzepkowski, one of the best hosts on the 1030AM radio simply amazed us with his very creative and interesting talk show . What he has done for our cause was absolutely magical. It was a real pleasure and honor to work with these wonderful people.

There were the moments that we still are not able to fully process in our minds… If there’s a patron, a sponsor, simply a good human being who was moved so deeply that offered his $30,000 it is something. It was the biggest individual donation towards Foundation’s children to date. Just unbelievable! And just because he wanted to, after he won two beautiful gold necklaces with diamonds at the live auction, he decided to give them to Julia – one of Foundation’s children. Julia’s smile was as bright as the sun and it’s not because of the
gold but because she felt very special and important. And that’s what we always trying to achieve for our children: to boost their confidence and self-esteem by making them feel important and beautiful and loved.

On the Foundation’s side the program was hosted by : Dorothy Malachowski – president of the GFHF, Ewa Lechowicz – Secretary, Izabela Rybak – Treasurer, Marek Jezuit, Zbigniew Karas and Anna Piotrowska – members of the Board of Directors . Togetherness, enthusiasm, very personal and intimate approach to the event has helped achieve this financial success. These are people who were in the studio talking to the listeners. But what was going on behind the scene was equally important: there was a group of dedicated volunteers who picked up
all those telephone calls: Zuzanna Gnarowska, Agata Jira-Owczarzak, Rysia Skirucha, Halina Buchcar, Ada Kokocińska, Beata Wołczyńska, Ewa Betka, Jolanta Puszkiewcz, Anna Wojtasik, Luiza Karczmarczyk and Jacek Dąbrowski. Thank you for being so good.

To keep everybody in good condition couple of businesses made sure that the food is there for everybody to enjoy. Starting early Saturday Mr. Roman Krzemiński, a member of Zew Natury Outdoor Organization presented us with delicious, huge, smoked salmon that he prepared for this occasion. Mr. & Mrs. Stanisław Urbaniak, the owners of Montrose & Cicero Deli, donated fantastic sandwiches and hot meals; Zofia Zaborska and Barbara Orzeł, the owners of Staropolska Restaurant also donated hot meals on Sunday. Bogna Iwanowska-Solak – the owner of Oak Mill Bakery – showered us with , the best in town paczkis and cakes. We are very grateful for all those wonderful treats. Thank you.

To commemorate this year’s Radiothon we came up with the idea of making a CD that would include local Polish –American musicians and artists’ work. And we succeeded! With a help of the Firebeat, Maggie D, Volare, Skalar US, Piotr Marszałek and Arek Religa who let us use their recordings, Mateusz Malec of Radio 1030 WNVR could materialize our idea. Ms. Eva Betka sponsored the production of this unique and quite awesome CD. Over 200 was given away for the listeners who’s pledge was $50 or over. We thank everyone who was involved in
development of this project.

Those two busy and very special days proved once again that if the cause is genuine, meaningful and is about children in need, we all embrace around it and become one big family that cares. On behalf of the children whom we had a chance to assist already and those who are waiting for our helping hand we thank each and everyone of you for such an outpour of love and support. Because of you these children have lots of reasons to be happy. 120 thousand of reasons, to be exact!

XII Wielki Radioton Daru Serca!

Saturday, February 11 – 8 am – 5 pm

Sunday, February 12 – 9 am – 5 pm

Radio WNVR 1030AM 3656 W. Belmont Ave.
Tune in at home, in the car or on the Internet

Why: There are lots of suffering children out there that are waiting for our help; your pledge can make a difference in their lives;

How: Make a call to the radio station 773-588-8881; make a donation on our web site www.darserca.org, on Facebook, at your favorite store, Polamer offices or, come over to the radio station;

Special Treat: First 100 people who donate $50.00 or more will receive CD “Music Mix for You” that was made exclusively for this occasion

All proceeds will go towards the children with disabilities who are waiting for life-saving and health improving surgeries as well as towards attendees of Foundation’s after school programs for local children with special needs. Opening of occupational and physical therapy classes for them depends upon the success of the Radiothon. It is up to you to help us make it possible so, please join us in this work that we all can be proud of.

Our Program:
•• Live and Internet Auction
•• Meet Foundation’s children
•• Chat with sponsors, supporters and patrons
also
Entertainment, music, lists of donators’ and more

 ***BE WITH US, BE A PART OF SOMETHING IMPORTANT AND VERY SPECIAL***
Any donation will make a difference in lives of children in need and the feeling of doing something
good will give you incomparable satisfaction and joy.

AUCTION

Saturday & Sunday, February 11 – 12

*** PLEASE NOTE: PRE-REGISTRATION IS CLOSED***

$40 at the door and
is subject to availability of remaining spots for speed dating.

• • Are you disappointed in singles’ events where you don’t connect with anyone?
• • Are you over the bar & club scenes?
• • Are you tired of dates who don’t “get” you?

Here’s a different kind of speed dating event that you won’t want to miss!
If you have wondered why you are attracted to certain people over others, your
biology plays a role! The research of anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher suggests
that there are 4 personality types: Explorer, Builder, Director and Negotiator.
Each of these types influences who you are attracted to and why.

Upon registration, you will complete this personality quiz that reveals your
dominant and secondary personality types. You will know if you are more
compatible with someone who prefers:

• • To stay home and watch movies or go to the newest restaurant
• • Intimate group of friends or the life of the party
• • Routine and planning things far in advance or spontaneity
• • To take charge or one who connects deeply with others
• • Being romantic and imaginative or practical

During the event, Relationship Expert Anita A. Chlipala, LMFT, with
Relationship Reality 312, Inc., will give a brief overview of the four personality
types and explain your most compatible matches. You will have time, in both
open networking and the timed dates, to meet your match!

At the end of the event, you will let us know who’s captured your attention.
We will follow up with an email with the contact details of the people you are
interested in. You take it from there!

When: Sunday February 12th 6-9pm

Where: UN Club-3548 River Road , Franklin Park

Who: Single young adults in the Chicago-land area (age limit 26- 38)

Price$: ****PRE-REGISTRATION IS CLOSED***. Speed dating is $40 at the door, subject
to availability of remaining spots for speed dating. For those you will not be
participating in the speed dating, you are still welcome to attend for the food,
2 hour open bar, networking and learning about your personality and
compatibility types.

“Present delivery crew on duty” by Monika from Romeoville

The Gift from the Heart Foundation would like to congratulate 1st Prize winner Monika from Romeoville with her photo “Present delivery crew on duty”, the Foundation’s TOP FUNDRAISER PHOTO!

We congratulate 2nd Prize winner Artur from Chicago for photo “Czy to naprawdę Swięty Mikołaj” (“Is this really Santa?”) the MOST POPULAR PHOTO. 

Both winners decided to dedicate their prizes to the Foundation’s children. Thank you for your generosity Monika and Arthur.

We also would like to congratulate 3rd Prize winner Andrzej from Słupsk, Poland for photo “on Holidays must be snow”, selected by the Foundation’s Judging Panel. 

“Czy to naprawdę Swięty Mikołaj” by Artur from Chicago

Overall we have raised $417 directly from voting and nearly $1,400 in additional donations and matching contributions. Our contest tab had more than 1,000 views by 600 unique visitors. We have reached over 20,000 people in last 10 days of the promotional campaign.

“On Holidays must be snow” by Andrzej from Słupsk, Poland

The funds raised will support our Educational Workshop program for kids with special needs that provide games, fun activities, help with homework, reading and mathematics.

Thank You!

By expanding our team with the addition of a teacher/counselor we are able to start a new program: “Summer Camp at the Foundation” – a free program for local kids with special needs that provides games, fun activities and fieldtrips to interesting places that will be the source of much joy and healthy development.  The parents also get a break.  Passed summer, “Vacation at the Foundation”  also serve as an after-school program and Saturday school.  Aside from receiving care and entertainment, the children also get tutoring.

The New Year has begun, and as always our plans are ambitious; our hopes and expectations even more so.  In the first quarter we will welcome six children from Poland – two are returning for follow-up consultations, and four will be undergoing surgery.   Furthermore, other children are waiting for a doctor’s decision regarding their case.   Aside from creating “Vacation at the Foundation”, we will continue with everything that has been set in place the previous year.  However, there will also be yet another program implemented in 2012.  We’re calling it pre-academy, and it’s an integration program for children three years of age and older.  There are still other programs and services that we would like to create and implement for the benefit of the community (like we said, our plans for this coming year are very ambitions), but this of course creates a financial need that needs to be met in order to proceed.  The challenges before us are great, but we hope to make the mountains a little smaller, resting confidently in the fact that you will be with us in these endeavors.  We know that we can count on your support and assistance.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support and kindness.  We thank our wonderful volunteers, sponsors, donors, and all those that think about our kids.  We thank you that you help us help them.

Olek was one of seventeen children that we assisted in 2011. He received the SDR treatment at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO.  Along with Olek’s mom we all shared tears of joy and watched in disbelief when her son started to walk on his own.  She never thought that such a day will come. Below is the “Thank You” letter from Olek’s parents.

In March I was elected the president of the Foundation. It was a very joyful moment for me indeed, but I also realized how big commitment such a position brings as well as responsibility. Also I had to take under consideration well being of my own business which demands my full attention as well. Few months have passed and I am happy to say that it is possible, that I can do both effectively and with big satisfaction. It is a very satisfying feeling, I have to admit.
Let’s make a trip together, month-by-month, to see how we all made 2011 a very good year for the GFHF (starting when it all began):

March

Olek is one of seventeen children that we assisted in 2011 and is one of the children that have received the SDR treatment at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO. Along with Olek’s mom we all shared tears of joy and watched in disbelief when her son started to walk on his own. She never thought that such a day will come; it’s is all because of Dr. Park’s knowledge and experience that SDR is so effective, it’s simply magic..

On the administrative site: The Board of Directors becomes a body of 12 members

April

Weronika and Dawid arrived for a check-up visit; Olek is ready to leave us, we all get very emotional we say good bye to Olek

Yung professionals that in 2010 formed Foundation’s Junior Board of Directors made a meaningful mark in their work: for the first time we could be a beneficiary of prestigious Wrigley Run

May
We part with Weronika and Dawid but we welcome Maciek – he is also scheduled for the SDR.
Polish Constitution Day Parade: lots of unforgettable moments; I’m impressed how well we presented ourselves at the Parade and how enthusiastically the crowd reacted while we were passing;

June
As so many before him Maciek also showed us how he can walk on his own; I’m sure that after a while he won’t even remember the physical limitation he faced before and how fortunate it was for him to get this treatment on time;
We welcome Karolina and Alan: for Karolina it is a very last visit. We will supply her with a new, top of the line prosthesis; Alan’s case is a very complicated one. Quite a few specialists try to figure out how to help him; we hope and work on finding the one who will help Alan.

It’s time for Summer Picnic: weather – very cooperative, just perfect; food – delicious (donation of Mr. & Mrs. Stanislaw Urbaniak of Montrose & Cicero Deli), volunteers – the best. No wonder that the whole event was so successful: over thousand of our closest friends came to experience fun and laughter with us. Financial outcome was also very impressive: over $ 15,000! This sum came just in time: we need to pay for Karolina’s prosthesis, send check for Alan’s consultation and pay our regular bills…

We start a new adventure: Summer Camp for local children with disabilities, free of charge – a token of appreciation to the community for constant support and help; both my husband and I we decided to sponsor this program. By doing so we wanted to seal our friendship and commitment to the Gift from the Heart Foundation.

July

Ola at the Shriners Hospital

Kids come and go: Alan after the visit with specialists at Children’s Hospital in Palm Beach, FL is heading home. There’s a chance for Alan there. We just have to wait for the evaluation and the numbers: in order to help this boy we have to be prepared, I’m sure it’s going to be quite expensive, at least in the neighborhood of $ 100,000.
In the meantime Ola and Norman arrived; Ola is a girl that even though she is only 9 she suffered so much already that there’s no room for more. As a baby a fire caught her crib and the girl’s little body was burned so badly that the doctors didn’t have much hope to save her. But, being a strong little girl she survived and we are so very happy that we can assist her with getting help here in the US. The reconstructive and plastic surgeries she needs are scheduled but it is still a long and a very painful process; Ola is a patient of Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati, OH and will have first o many surgeries very soon. Karolina is busy with finding the right and most efficient prosthesis;
Summer Camp in a full swing; under the watchful presence of the teacher, Ms. Beata Leitloff and an awesome group of volunteers kids are having a blast: lots of adventurous trips, interesting art projects, imaginary visits at exotic places these are jus a few activities that our children experience at the Camp. Children love it, we love it and the parents love it as well. Which is the best scenario there is.

August

Ola is heading to Cincinnati, OH for her surgery; Karolina is happy with her brand new, top of the line artificial hand that we purchased for her. She is getting ready to get back home. It saddens us for she really was a helping hand all around and children loved her. She won’t be back any more so, as always it’s not easy to part.
Because of such a huge demand of this kind of places for children with special needs during a school year we decide to open after – school classes for children of all ages all year around. We start the process of recruiting, organizing and financial maintaining of the program. We also have to find the funds to cover most of the expenses that are going to apply to this program.
We have a very fortunate start: Mr. Robert Nowomiejski from New York along with couple of other businessmen came up with the idea of organizing a tennis tournament at Arthur Ash Stadium there. They decided to donate all the proceeds towards our children. Named Polonia Open the tournament brought us over $ 5,000. It is so heart-warming thought that even though they are not connected with us in any way, living so far away, the idea of helping children brought us together.

September

We have new children at the Foundation: Olek, Damian, Wiktoria and Julia; except for Rafal all of them are going to have SDR procedure;
The MAK Foundation, the foundation created by Mr. & Mrs. Ed Krawczyk in memoriam of their late son Michael, donated a sum of $ 10,000;
On our part we are organizing huge, 3-day Garage Sale. Any dollar is as important as ever and this is also one of the ways that we are collecting money for the goals that we have set for this year. Thanks to the people who gave us plenty of items for sale we were able to turn them into money and that is what our children need.

October

We have two Julia at the Foundation: one is having the SDR, the other one just arrived from Poland. Wiktoria is heading home and Weronika still in the hospital and is recuperating after the surgery.
Halloween Party at the Foundation, all of the children got costumes and had lots of fun.
Junior Board organized an exciting event – Art for Heart Auction at the Polish Museum of America; a very successful 3 days brought us $ 5,000.

November

Nikola is a new little girl that is welcome by Julia and Weronika. The boys are still at the hospital.

Our biggest fundraiser of the year, the Grand Ball was held in Marriott Hotel. This year’s theme is a masquerade so we called it the Venetian Night. Absolutely magic and enchanted night it was. The Sweet Table by Oak Mill Bakery added delicious and elegant accent that was appreciated by all the guests. Financial success that was also grand: over $30,000. This amount was mostly a result of the ads that were placed in Program Book, the Silent Auction which was orchestrated and generously supplied by Mr. & Mrs. Marek Maneykowski of Archer Gold Jewelry as well as by generosity of the guests.

Złote Serduszka w 2011 otrzymali (od lewej) pp. Pamula, Mariusz Lechowicz, Agata Jira-Owczarzak oraz PLL LOT.

December

Children are leaving us for Christmas. Before heading home though they all have a chance to attend couple of Christmas parties that various sponsors and friends organized. First that was a joint party: Wyspa Dzieci and Dar Serca . About hundred children met Santa, ate sweets and danced until was over. Next the Highlander Riders bikers invited all 18 children that are currently attending our after-school program to the Szalas Restaurant for fun, pizza, dances, clown show and lots of presents from Santa. It was unbelievable how warm, friendly and nice the organizers were towards these children. Mr.& Mrs. Skirucha open their home for us as well. Home made dishes, sweets, gifts and caroling – that were the attributes of their Christmas Party. Also, the group of Northeaster University Students visited our children with presents and treats. They spent couple of hours with them giving them an attention they need and joy that radiated from their faces.
We are very grateful for thinking about our children this Holiday Season, for taking a time to make these children feel very special.

Most of the people who support GFHF live accordingly to the saying “ if I did good this year I need to share” . I would like to mention few names of people who live by this rule: Mr. Stephen Kusmierczak, who this year donated $ 6,000 but who also is personally involved in Foundation’s life and well-being, Mr. Przemek Dzielawski of Midcity Spine and Ortho who graced us with a donation of $ 9,000, Mr. & Mrs. Debicki of Alexandra Pierogi who in any given time are ready with their helping hand, donated $ 3,000. To this category also belongs a vast group of people who showered us with monetary donations as an answer to our Christmas card mailed to all of Foundation’s sponsors. We take this outpour of love and friendship as an assurance that we are doing something good, with a universal value that is greatly appreciated. It is very important to us to get such a support because without that, without help of all Polonia we wouldn’t be where we are now and the children wouldn’t have such a beautiful Home as they have. Because of that 17 children who lived there in 2011 could rest and recuperate in comfort and the local children could benefit from it as well.
We wouldn’t be able to do much without constant support of the media, especially: Dziennik Zwiazkowy, radio station WNVR 1030AM, Polvision and radio station WPNA 1490AM.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all Foundation’s sponsors, volunteers, patrons and all Polonia for your involvement in this wonderful work, which we all can be so proud of.

Respectfully,

Dorothy Malachowski
President

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

 Thank you for your support and generosity.

Children & the Board of Directors 

Monday, Dec. 19th a group of students , members of Northeastern University Polish Students Association brought presents to our children.

Thank you for your support and generosity!  

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