The ‘Helping. Together’ action has been awarded in the ‘Benefactor of the Year’ programme.

The ‘Helping. Together’ action is a common project of Polish business that united the forces in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now the action donated aid worth over PLN 50 million. The initiator was Leszek Gierszewski, the president of Drutex – the leading producer of windows and doors in Europe. The action has been awarded in the ‘Benefactor of the Year’ programme.

It all started in March this year when Drutex donated financial aid to Pomeranian hospitals and involved other companies. The response was immediate, and the aid was so large that the Foundation ‘Helping. Together’ was set up in order to coordinate it on the country scale. The value of the donated aid has exceeded PLN 50 million.

The 23rd awards gala for the ‘Benefactor of the Year’ took place on 9 September in the Warsaw Syrena Theatre. Leszek Gierszewski, the initiator and the Honorary Chairman of the Action Board received the award on behalf of all the companies that contributed to the action.

- Helping goes without saying. Especially now, in those strange and difficult times. As soon as the virus appeared, I supported financially those who fight it in the front lines. I invited friends from other companies, other industries, since together we can achieve more – says Leszek Gierszewski, the president and founder of  Drutex. – We got an immediate response, the avalanche started. A true avalanche of aid. Polish business demonstrated its strength in times of trial. I am delighted that we managed to  unite for the common good in the current crisis. Thank you for that. We, as Drutex, have helped, are helping and will be helping. Because it’s right.

The ‘Benefactor of the Year’ is the biggest programme that promotes charity and social commitment of companies in Poland. The organizer is the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland. It has been awarding most socially active companies since 1997. The programme enables non-governmental organizations to publicly thank philanthropists and business partners, it inspires businesspeople to undertake social activity and it informs about initiatives and social programmes executed by companies.

In current edition the organizers decided to  give six extra awards in the ‘Socially committed to fighting the COVID-19 epidemic’ category. One of them was given to ‘Helping. Together’ action.

About the action

‘Helping. Together’ – is a social initiative that gathers businesspeople ready to give aid in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. It brings together private entities that help to fight the pandemic in material and non-material ways. The action supports i.a. health care units, people who suffered due to the pandemic and NGO’s. The initiator of the action is Leszek Gierszewski, the president and founder of Drutex S.A. The action is open and apolitical. Its strength lies in common operations. Thanks to integration of strong and ready to help organizations the action brings about real and effective help. Common aid operations enable to reach a higher number of donors and the needy. https://jestesmyrazem.org/

Leszek Gierszewski, the Honorary Chairman of the Action Board: A lot of state and private companies are helping. They do it in many ways. Our action is a form of common operation of these entities. Together one may execute bigger projects. Anyway, if not now, then when? This is the time. The word ‘solidarity’ has gained a new meaning nowadays.