The awards ceremony took place during the ‘Charity Stars’ Charity Ball held at Sofitel Warsaw Victoria Hotel on October 9. The event was co-hosted by representatives of three TV stations – Bartek Jędrzejak of TVN, Agnieszka Hyży of Polsat and Aleksandra Kostka of TVP2.

The award in EDUCATION category was received by Agnieszka Więdłocha and Antoni Pawlicki who have been cooperating since 2016 in the ‘Hero ON – switch on history!’ national campaign dedicated to Warsaw Uprising participants and promoting history of Poland in the 20th century.

Piotr Zelt won the award in HEALTH category. The actor is an ambassador of the ‘Faces of Depression. I Don’t Assess. I Accept’  social campaign. His involvement in the campaign, encouraging Poles to look for professional psychological and pharmacological support and the history of his personal struggle with the disease were highly appreciated. The actor inspires many people, helps them overcome their fear of seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist.

The award in CHARITY ASSISTANCE category went to actor Michał Grudziński for involvement in his charity work. He has been an ambassador and friend of Hospicjum Palium hospice in Poznań for many years. He actively supports its crowdfunding campaigns participating e.g. in such campaigns as 1% of tax for the Hospice, as well as organization of annul Concert for Friends and Donors of Hospice where he holds the auctions.

In the STARS AGAINST COVID-19 PANDEMIC category the Plebiscite Chapter selected two winners this year. The first winner is a team consisting of Joanna Koroniewska and Maciej Dowbor who organized spontaneous and humorous House Parties at the Dowbors’ at the time of the first pandemic wave. Since March 2020, over 100 such house parties were held during which charity fundraising and campaigns are promoted.

The other winner was a literary charity action – a publication titled Hope. Its initiator was Agora Publishing House director Robert Kijak. That exceptional work consists of 40 works by Olga Tokarczuk, Hanna Krall, Wiesław Myśliwski, Andrzej Stasiuk, Mariusz Szczygieł, Joanna Bator, Jacek Dehnel, Sylwia Chutnik, Grażyna Plebanek, Ignacy Karpowicza, Filip Springer, Paweł Piotr Reszka, among the others. All involved in that initiative worked as volunteers. And the profit gained – almost PLN 1,7 m – went to 62 social aid centers and hospices.

Honorary Awards

Mateusz Damięcki skillfully uses his social media channels for charity purposes. His #hophopchallenge which opens in a new tab for children with spinal muscle atrophy (SMA) became very popular and involves many famous people. Since 2016, the actor has been a Sustainable Development Ambassador of United Nations Global Compact Network Poland; he was the face of End the Cage Age campaign of Compassion Polska; he is an ambassador of Przemek Dzieciom Foundation, participated in the fashion show organized by Orimari Foundation, and in photo session to calendar published by Dream Come True Foundation,  takes part in campaigns run by Zaczytani.org Foundation and reading actions of local libraries. He was also active in Warsaw Uprising Museum social campaign promoting altruism, loyalty and courage. Currently Mateusz Damięcki decided to support SMA Foundation activities.

Marcin Dorociński has recently started to cooperate with Fundacja Niesiemy Nadzieję that in turn thanked him for that nominating him to the Plebiscite award. The actor is best known for his support to WWF Polska and animal shelters. He regularly donates the Zakątek Weteranów (Veterans’ Nook) where retired dogs and horses that worked for uniform services live. He is also strongly involved in Dream Dinner action of The Mam Marzenie Foundation which has already raised over PLN 200,000. He has been participating in the finals of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, and is a volunteer of Ronald McDonald’s Foundation.

Special Awards

The editorial office of „Twój Styl” magazine – the main partner of the Plebiscite – gave its special award to Katarzyna Żak. The actress is an ambassador of the Friends of Hospice in Chojnice Society and helps to raise funds for building that institution. She supports also Akogo? Foundation run by Ewa Błaszczyk. This year she joined a fundraising campaign for rebuilding journalist Małgorzata Puczyłowska and her son’s burned house. Katarzyna Żak is also involved in activities saving lives of species endangered with extinction and building sustainable marine ecosystems. And an ambassador of Beautiful Because Healthy social campaign.

Awarded this year Charity Star of Responsible Business Forum went to Marcin Dorociński. The Forum has appreciated his huge personal support for activities protecting natural environment, his brave way of speaking about the necessity to counteract the climate change and protect biodiversity, and promoting simple but important changes of lifestyle which make it more ecological.

About the Plebiscite

This year’s winners were selected by the Plebiscite Chapter comprised of: the Academy for Development of Philanthropy in Poland President Paweł Łukasiak, member of the Bauer Publishing House Management Board Monika Krokiewicz, President and CEO of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation Jerzy Koźmiński, TVN Program Director Edward Miszczak, journalist and President of You Are Not Alone TVN Foundation Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska, President and General Director of Responsible Busines Forum Marzena Strzelczak, philanthropist, president and initiator of Omenaa Foundation, winner of Honorary Charity Star 2019 Omenaa Mensah, member of the Polsat TV Management Board Nina Terentiew, actress and winner of the Plebiscite honorary award in 2013 Magdalena Różczka , Polsat Foundation President Krystyna Aldridge-Holc, and Director of  Łukasiewicz Research Network Jerzy Karwelis.

Charity Stars is the only initiative in Poland awarding social involvement of culture, entertainment, media, film, sports and the Internet celebrities. Nominations for the awards are submitted by invited foundations, associations, corporate foundations, managers of the stars and other institutions cooperating with public personalities well known and socially active. The Charity Star title is awarded to people who use their public recognition and popularity as a tool for helping or saving lives of others and changing the world for the better. They not only think how to help or improve the world but also perform certain work to achieve that goal.

The Plebiscite initiator: the Academy for Development of Philanthropy in Poland

The main partner: „Twój Styl” magazine

The partner of the Plebiscite and gwiazdydobroczynnosci.pl portal: the Polish-American Freedom Foundation

The Plebiscite Patron: Responsible Business Forum

Media Patrons: Polsat, TVN, TVP2, www.twojstyl.pl, portal ngo.pl

Statuettes Sponsor: Apart

Supporting Partners: Hotel Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, Unit4Men, Prouvé, Egmont, Bielenda, Sylveco, Stojo, Panul, Shecell, Lekam, Finedeeds