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Annual Report 2005

Equal Opportunities Program

The Program assists local organizations working to enhance access to education for young people from small towns and impoverished communities, as well as those striving to counteract social exclusion of physically and mentally disabled children by providing them with education and personal development opportunities.

Local Scholarship Programs

The project, carried on from 2000, aims at assisting the establishment of an alternative scholarships system for youth from low-income families based on local resources and activity. In the framework of the Program, we support local NGOs which run youth scholarship programs in their areas with the support of local government and local businesses.

We offer organizations willing to run scholarship programs technical assistance in establishing and operating scholarship funds, building local coalitions, fund raising and management, cooperation with the media. The local scholarship funds raise money for scholarship grants from local businesses, individual donors, and the local governments. Once a year, the organizations receive matching grants to supplement monies they have raised locally. Local scholarship programs run by the organizations operate on the basis of their own charters, drawn up by special scholarship committees. The scholarships awarded by them, varying between PLN 50 and 250 per month, are used to purchase textbooks and learning aides, to pay for lodging, extra courses, commuting to school, etc. The decision to award a scholarship is usually based on the applicant’s school record and the financial standing of her/his family, sometimes also involvement in the work for community and achievements in other non-academic pursuits.

In 2005 the project involved 38 organizations from 14 provinces. They raised PLN 946 926 in their communities. This amount increased by grants awarded by the Stefan Batory Foundation from donations by companies, institutions and private donors in the total amount of PLN 636 100 supported 1488 monthly scholarships for youth in the school year 2005/2006.

Equal Opportunity – Local Scholarship Program was financed from 1% personal income tax payments donated to the Foundation in years 2004 and 2005 (PLN 542 684,98), donations from: Levi Strauss & Co (PLN 89 068,70), Poradnik Domowy monthly (PLN 3 000), Leopold Kronenberg Foundation (PLN 537,32), Philip Morris Poland S.A. (PLN 509) and Avcon company (PLN 300).

Rainbow Academy

This project targets organizations that operate in small towns and rural areas and engage in activities to assist mentally and physically disabled children. The ultimate purpose is to improve the children’s opportunities for education, and to overcome their social exclusion. We offer these organizations grants for activities that make it easier for disabled children to acquire knowledge and skills, enable them to participate in cultural and artistic events, and contribute to integration with their peers and community.

In 2005, we made grants to NGOs conducting therapeutic and educational activities for disabled children in locations with a population below 20,000. We funded 23 therapeutic and integration activity projects that involved cooperation with the local community, the participation of volunteers, parents and assistants of disabled children.

Equal Opportunity – Rainbow Academy Program was financed from a donation by Commercial Union Poland (PLN 82 052,29), income from M Fund established by a private donor (PLN 90 000) and 1% personal income tax payments and individual donations (PLN 162,71).

Donors Advised Funds

Commercial Union Charitable Fund

For the past ten years, the Foundation has been cooperating with the insurance company Commercial Union Poland, which provided us with donations to support the disabled, children and youth. In 2005, from the Commercial Union’s funds we made 20 grants for integration and education of disabled children projects (see the list of grants of the Equal Opportunity Program – Rainbow Academy section). The Foundation manages also Commercial Union Charitable Fund used to finance endeavors identified by the donor, involving support for the sick and needy people, as well as support to educational projects (see the list of grants of the Equal Opportunity Program – Donors Advised Funds).

M Fund

In 2002, thanks to a donation made to the Foundation by a private donor, an endowed donor advised Fund was established. Income generated by the Fund is annually spent for various forms of assistance to needy children. In 2005, M Fund earnings were used to finance or co-finance 23 grants for integration and education of disabled children projects (grants are listed and described below under the Rainbow Academy section). Moreover, pursuant to the wish of the M Fund founder a part of the annual earnings on the investment of the Fund was allocated to the purposes identified by the donor involving support for sick children and children in need of care. In 2005 14 grants were made of the value of PLN 40 000 (for the list of grants see Equal Opportunity Program – Donors Advised Funds).

Helen and Peter Maxwell Fund

Since 2004, the Foundation has been receiving an annual sum amounting to PLN 100 000 from Mr. and Mrs. Helen and Peter Maxwell from the United States for the Windows of Opportunity Program, aiming to provide equal educational opportunities for children and youth from Siedlce town and county. The program is run by the Hans Ch. Kofoed Association for Social Welfare, Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in Siedlce, with the participation of the Siedlce county prefect and commune administrators and the mayor of Siedlce town. In the framework of the program, financed in 2/3 from Maxwell Fund resources, an annual competition is organized for the purchase of computers for primary and junior high schools in Siedlce town and county. In 2005, thanks to the Program, 12 schools received 56 computers, 39 of them were bought from Maxwell Fund’s resources.

K Fund

In 2004, the Foundation received a donation of GBP 51 232 from a sponsor in Great Britain who wishes to remain anonymous, aimed to provide equal educational and cultural opportunities for children and youth. These resources were deposited in a three-year Fund which in 2005, pursuant to the will of the donor, was used to purchase books for libraries in small towns (with the population less than 60 000). In two grant competitions, we disbursed grants to 62 libraries at a total sum of PLN 119 494. These resources were used to supplement libraries with almost 4 000 new volumes for children and youth.

Art for Social Change

In 2005, we also supported the Art for Social Change program run by the Wybrzeżak Theater in Education Association which uses artistic activity in work with children and youth from at-risk communities. A USD 12 500 grant from the Evens Foundation, made to the Friends of Stefan Batory Foundation in the U.S., helped finance 5 projects of art therapy carried out in the 2005/2006 school year.

Beata Pawlak Fund

This fund was established from a donation of PLN 99 390,69 bequeathed by the deceased Beata Pawlak, Polish journalist and writer killed in a terrorist attack on Bali in 2002. As requested by the donor, the Fund awards an annual prize to an author of an article or publication on foreign cultures, religions and civilizations (for more see the Civil Society Program section).

Program costs

Grants

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