The participants were welcomed by Ambassador Jerzy Koźmiński, President of Polish-American Freedom Foundation, and Paweł Łukasiak, President of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland (ARFP).

In his speech, Ambassador Jerzy Koźmiński recalled the history of the establishment of Polish-American Freedom Foundation 25 years ago, as well as the “Act Locally”, which was one of the first programs of the Foundation. “Today, after 25 years, we know that the ‘Act Locally’ program is a unique system of support for small communities on an international scale,” said Jerzy Koźmiński, President and CEO of Polish-American Freedom Foundation, welcoming the guests.

Paweł Łukasiak emphasized how important it is in today’s world to build cross-sector partnerships. “The ability to build local partnerships based on volunteering and resource sharing, focused on the common good, is one of the key competencies for the future. In the face of growing natural and anthropogenic threats, only cooperation between organizations, local governments, entrepreneurs, and residents can effectively respond to local challenges, including building a sense of security. Since 2009, the ‘PAFF Local Partnerships’ program has been successfully implementing these objectives thanks to its unique formula and method of animating local communities,” said the President of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland.

The meeting was an opportunity to formally thank the members of the Network of 77 Act Locally Centers, which not only decide on the awarding of grants but are also centers of local social animation, conduct training sessions, provide consulting, volunteer centers, raise funds, and for 25 years, with the support of PAFF and ARFP, have been actively supporting local organizations and communities in their development, strengthening their competencies and integration.

The meeting made also an opportunity to announce the winners of the 13th edition of the Tell Us competition, which rewards the works of beneficiaries of the “Act Locally” program, presenting their projects in film form.

The award-winning works are:

• Sport Without Borders by Start-on Starogard Gdański Association,
• Locally, by Bike #It’s feasible by The Locals of Suchy Las Commune Association,
• We Support Biodiversity by Starogard 2030 Association,
• We Talk About the Unspoken by an informal group called Z miłości do Młodości (For the Love of Youth),
• In Search of the Fern Flower, or Slavs in the Library by the Słowianki group from the library,
• Sounds of Health. Active Koszarawa by the Woodrun Foundation,
• Let’s Respect Old Trees by Akolada Association for the Development of the Chojnice Municipality.

 Lasowikowy and Children’s Nature Appeal film by the Opowiadamy Association received an honorable mention.

An important part of the evening meeting was a summary of the results of the 9 rounds of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” program, which has seen 83 cross-sector partnerships established since 2009, with 6 partnerships and 2 start-ups for the common good formed in the 9th round.

In this part, prizes of PLN 15,000 were awarded to the winners of the competition for the best partnership development plans. They went to:

• The partnership of Jabłonna municipality, implementing the Alm –  Youth of Jabłonna Municipality Leadership Academy project,
• Partnership of Kijewo Królewskie Commune, implementing the Park of Local Initiatives project,
• Partnership of  Kowary Municipality, implementing the Youth Zone in Kowary project.

There were also prizes for the winners of the competition for the most sustainable and active partnerships, who received prizes of PLN 50,000 each for the development of partnership activities. These prizes went to:

• Partnership of Warka municipality, led by the W.A.R.K.A. Association,
• Partnership of Janowice Wielkie municipality, led by the Partnership of the Spirit of the Mountains Local Action Group.

The official part of the meeting ended with a performance by the Acustic Trio band.

The gala was hosted by Dorota Kostowska.