More and more people in need of help are appearing around us. They are mostly elderly, lonely people, as well as children from orphanages or impoverished families. They never ask for help, even though they live in extremely difficult conditions.
In today’s world, in the pursuit of money and amid an excess of responsibilities, we completely fail to notice them, and when we know they exist, we effectively try to forget about them. Not everyone, however, passes them by indifferently. There are people who care about the fate of the poor and those in need and who try to help them. We can find an example of this at I Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Bolesławiec, where, on the initiative of teachers mgr Teresa Stopnicka and mgr
Maria Surmiak, the “Aid for Those in Need” campaign was launched. The funds for this purpose do not come from the school budget; instead, the students themselves try to earn them, including by organizing dances, for which special thanks are due to the School Management, the Teaching Staff, and classes III a and III e. Last year’s proceeds from the dances – 7,200,000 zł – as in the previous two years, were allocated to Christmas parcels for elderly, poor and lonely people. Part of this amount was used to purchase sweets and fruit for one hundred children from Primary School No. 7.
This is not, however, the first campaign of this kind. Four years ago, money obtained in the same way was used to purchase parcels that were given to children from the Children’s Home in Bolesławiec. In addition to collecting money at dances, a campaign to collect toys, books and clothing is being conducted in parallel; these items are given not only to individuals but also to institutions. We have been running the clothing collection for the second year, and as part of it, assistance has been received by patients at the Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill, children from Primary School No. 7, and those under the care of Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Dzieci, who also received parcels of clothing and toys this year. Both women – mgr Teresa Stopnicka and mgr Maria Surmiak – extend their heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in these campaigns.
The cooperation between the students of I Liceum Ogólnokształcące and Primary School No. 7 should also be mentioned. Last year, class II a, whose form teacher was mgr Piotr Roman, invited 15 students from that school to a Christmas Eve assembly and gave them parcels of sweets. This year, the same class, now III a, under the supervision of mgr Irena Tomaszek – Bazan, also hosted and presented gifts to the students of that school.
Let us remember: the joy of receiving is great, but the joy of giving is many times greater.