| Who looks after the money or a tale of Give us the money and watch what we do with it - we'll support some organisations and punish others!
On 6, 7 and 8th June 2008, the Polish Community Council of Australia held its Annual Congress in Adelaide. Report of the Congress business and resolutions has just been published.
40 Zjazd Rady Naczelnej
However, it has come to my attention that one of the main points made by the Council President, Mr Andrzej Alwast, was a request/plea to Poles to will their money to his organisation to enable it to be used for Polish cultural and language development in Australia, and especially to support Polish-Australian youth. What a great idea – why should the money go back in to Government coffers? I couldn’t agree more.
An example of this type of legacy is that left by the Polish Engineer, Stanislaw Blum. Blum generously left a substantial sum of money for this very purpose. Each year, various organisations, including Polish youth organisations such as the one that I direct (Polish Song and Dance Ensemble “Lajkonik”) apply to the Blum Foundation for financial assistance in funding their activities, and on occasion, for special projects.
This year, the Blum Foundation funded a preparatory camp for Lajkonik youth and children to enable them to prepare for the 2008 Mound and Mt Kosciuszko Festival in Jindabyne/Cooma. 35 children and youth spent 3 days at the Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre prior to the weekend Festival celebrations and performances. The Lajkonik children and parents are extremely grateful to the Blum Foundation for the Grant, and one only has to look at the Festival website on Puls Polonii, to see the “fruits” of that Grant.
The Juliusz Kleeberg Fund (Fundusz Wieczysty) is another long-established Fund which has, as its main and specific aim, the support of Australian youth of Polish background in their education in Polish language and pursuit of Polish-related cultural activities. However, for the second year in a row, Lajkonik has applied to the Fundusz Wieczysty Committee, for financial assistance to send dancers to last year’s Kosciuszko Festival (grant application unsuccessful), last year’s Polish Festival in Federation Square Melbourne (grant application unsuccessful) and Rzeszow Poland in July of this year (grant application submitted in April and “no response” even though the young dancers are due to leave in 2 weeks' time!)
Despite having fully met the criteria of Fundusz Wieczysty in previous years, during which Lajkonik also organised and participated in fundraising concerts for the same Fund, Lajkonik’s 3 most recent applications over a two-year period have been either rejected or ignored. It appears that Lajkonik has fallen out of the favour of the decision-makers on the Committee ie Mrs Jadzia Solka-Krajewska (NSW Federation), Mr Jan Malecki (NSW Federation), Mr Stan Mikolajski (Vice President to Mr Jerzy Krajewski of NSW Federation and Manager of Teatr Fantazja). It would appear that this is a backlash for Lajkonik resigning from the Federation in June 2007 and for seeking to affiliate with other organisations.
I thought we lived in a democratic country where there are equal rights (including the right to vote), freedom of speech, freedom to affiliate.
It appears that the Fundusz Wieczysty has become a tool in the hands of people with misguided ideas on the need to be accountable in the management of community money.
The Polish Community Council of Organisations (Rada Naczelna), despite having a supervisory role over the Juliusz Kleeberg Fund (Fundusz Wieczysty) and despite being informed of the above scenario and urged to act, has failed to do so.
Today, the Polish Community Council of Organisations is urging Poles to donate more money for the same purposes. But, how will Poles know that their hard-earned money will be administered honestly and fairly, in accordance with the stated aims of either the Juliusz Kleeberg Fund (Fundusz Wieczysty) or the Polish Community Council (Rada Naczelna)? My experience, through treatment of Lajkonik, has been that there is a lack of consistency and accountability.
Below is a list of Grants given by the Fundusz Wieczysty Fund in the period 2007/2008.
GRANTS by Fundusz Wieczysty (1 April 2007 – 31 March 2008)
Polish Dance Ensemble „Kujawy” (Sydney) $4,500
Rada Naczelna (Polish Comm. Council) $2,500
Federation Victoria $1,000
Polish Dance Ensemble „Syrenka” (Sydney) $1,000
Polish Museum Brisbane $1,000
Polish Cultural Foundation Canberra $ 500
Polish Dramatic Theatre “Fantazja” (Sydney)$ 500
Polish School Ashfield (Sydney) $1,000
Polish School T Kościuszki (Melbourne) $ 500
Polish Association in Glenroy $ 500
Polish School in Rowville (Melbourne) $ 500
Federation of Polish Organisations NSW $ 1,000
Beata Leuner $ 500
Polish Scouts “Podhale” Victoria $ 500
Polish Teachers Association NSW $ 500
Polish Dramatic Theatre (Sydney) $ 500
Dr Bogumiła Żongołłowicz $ 500
TOTAL $17,000
I have raised this matter in a public forum before, and I will continue to do so until this matter is appropriately resolved.
Urszula Lang
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