Polish Home Foundation

The 2002 Report Summary

February 22, 2003

Dear Friends of the Foundation,

This report contains a summary of the PHF activities in 2002 with an update from the annual meeting of the PHF members on Feb 20, 2003. It was the first year the Foundation was active and it was quite busy for us. As we want to develop and grow, we would like to invite everybody to support the Foundation in 2003 and beyond by volunteering for the PHF and by becoming members of the PHF. Below is the list of our accomplishments for 2002.

Establishing the Foundation

In March 2002, the Foundation received the 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS. In May 2002, the first annual meeting of Members marked the starting point for the PHF. The meeting finalized the Bylaws, made changes to Articles of Incorporation and elected the first regular Board of Directors of the PHF. The Directors appointed Officers who run the Foundation. In February 2003, the next annual meeting of members re-elected the same Directors and opened membership to the public. Since 2002, Mr. Ryszard Kott has served both as the Chairman of the Board and as the President of the PHF.

In 2002, the Foundation has established bank accounts, received several donations and awarded three grants. It has a bilingual website at www.PolishHomeFoundation.org  aand publicized its charter and activities in both quarterlies popular in our community that is in Nasz Dom and Gazetka Polonijna. The Directors defined the policies vital for the PHF. Our mission statement and all the basic information are available at the website.

The core activity: donations and grants

In 2002 the Foundation received cash and software donations for a total of $8,921, most of it in targeted donations. Internally the PHF tracks the donations in the following targeted funds:  cultural, educational, emergency and medical, and the Polish Home improvement; there also is a general fund. Donations to the PHF are tax deductible.

The Foundation awarded 3 grants in 2002 for a total value of $1850:

• A software grant valued at $1050 to the Polish Home Association in Seattle to upgrade software to improve membership bookkeeping as well as the service at the PHA library.
• A cash grant of $300 to the Polish School in Seattle to provide funds for educational DVDs in Polish planned as awards for students of the School.
• A cash grant of $500 towards the “Polna Rapsodia” concert to support a concert featuring songs to poems by Polish authors. The concert is organized by Mr. Tomasz Aleksander and is scheduled for March 9, 2003 in Seattle.

2003 goals: growing membership and fundraising

The Foundation had a good start on its core mission in 2002. At the same time, our local Polish-American community is still not fully aware of the Foundation existence and benefits. We would like to raise the awareness of the Foundation to the whole new level in order to be able to serve as actively as we hoped. We need help with the planned fundraising efforts and we invite everybody to volunteer for the PHF and to become members of the PHF. We look forward to working with the Polish-American community of the Puget Sound region promoting Polish heritage and culture in the Pacific Northwest in 2003.

Ryszard K. Kott