In collaboration with Rotary e-Club Poland, our project aimed to support the mental health of 50 Ukrainian refugee orphans living in two refugee camps in Poland. Building on the Rotary e-Club Poland’s ongoing efforts to support Ukraine, the project gave these children (ages 7-16) the opportunity to attend an 11-day mental health and cultural immersion camp on the Baltic Sea coast in July-August 2023. At the camp, they received psychological therapy sessions, studied the Polish language and culture in an informal setting, took part in sports, and engaged in social integration activities with Polish peers.

To make this possible, our club and Rotary e-Club Poland partnered with other District 7610 Rotarians, U.S. and Polish non-Rotarian organizations, and an individual philanthropist to raise the $29,000 needed to fund the cultural immersion camp. To offer further support, a team from our club also traveled to Poland to meet our counterparts and visit the cultural immersion camp in July-August 2023.

Read about our team’s experience on the Rotary Voices blog.

But we’re not stopping there – this project has created a bond between our club and Rotary e-Club Poland to see how we can support a total of 240 Ukrainian orphan refugees located in the two orphanage refugee camps they support. To learn more or get involved, contact us at pentagonrotary@gmail.com.