Business involvement in relief efforts is expanding. Companies are supporting not only initiatives launched in response to tragic events—such as the floods in September 2024—but also projects designed to prepare for future natural disasters and emergencies. With such events occurring more frequently, support from the private sector will be needed on a larger scale than before. Observations from the Polish Red Cross (PCK) show that businesses are increasingly engaging in long-term projects, providing not only funding but also employee volunteering.
The Polish Red Cross has operated continuously since 18 January 1919. It follows the seven principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, voluntary service, unity, independence, and universality. In 2024, PCK assistance—including meal programs, food parcels, clothing support, and cash aid—reached more than one million people across Poland.
“The Polish Red Cross has been cooperating with businesses for years through various social initiatives, projects, and programs. Above all, this includes funding that enables us to provide multifaceted and wide-ranging support to people in need,” said Małgorzata Szukała, Head of Communications and Fundraising at the Polish Red Cross, in an interview with Newseria. “Beyond financial resources, we also work with businesses by exchanging know-how and bringing business experience into the Red Cross’s activities. Often, these partnerships involve, for example, providing warehouse space when large-scale humanitarian assistance is needed.”
For many years, PCK has partnered with companies from different sectors of the economy through long-term, nationwide projects and information campaigns.
“Employee volunteering is also part of this cooperation, because company staff join our activities and help us prepare assistance for those in need. There are many such opportunities,” Szukała emphasized.
Through volunteering, employees take part in social initiatives such as food drives, assembling aid packages, organizing educational workshops, and supporting programs aimed at helping seniors and children.
PCK’s “Strategy 2030” is built on three pillars: crisis readiness, health and prevention, and community activation and reducing social inequalities.
“Recently, we have observed that businesses have begun to understand and support initiatives that help prepare for disasters and emergencies,” Szukała explained. “Of course, whenever something happened in Poland—such as a flood—or other initiatives emerged that required business support, companies would get involved. But as a humanitarian organization, we try to educate and encourage businesses to engage before such events occur. We prepare as an organization, and our services, warehouses, and operations need funding in advance.”
To enable an immediate response, the Polish Red Cross has created the Rescue Fund—a permanent financial reserve for rapid assistance in disasters such as sudden floods, large-scale fires, or earthquakes. The funds are used, among other things, to mobilize rescue teams, provide training and equipment for volunteers, deliver long-term assistance to affected people—both material and psychological—and support education and prevention measures.
“This is an investment in all of our future,” Szukała noted. “Business contributions to our Rescue Fund help us remain ready when something happens. In such moments, actions must be fast and coordinated—organizations cannot wait. Of course, we then launch fundraising and other efforts supported by individual donors and businesses, but it is crucial to have a certain level of support already in place before a crisis strikes.”
Thanks to the funds collected, PCK representatives were able to act quickly in the flood-hit regions of south-western Poland in September 2024. The disaster affected 238,000 people, destroyed 11,700 buildings, and caused losses estimated at nearly PLN 1.4 billion. The main flood wave passed on 14–15 September, but PCK Rescue System units and the Humanitarian Aid System had already been operating since 12 September. For the first time in the history of the Humanitarian Aid System, all of its units were involved. They helped reinforce embankments and organized temporary accommodation for evacuated residents. Immediately after the catastrophe, they also delivered food and water, assembled food packages, and transported essential supplies.
“The challenge is preparing for upcoming crises, because there will be more and more of them,” the expert emphasized. “In the past, floods occurred every 10 to 15 years. Now, what happened last year in southern Poland could happen again in a year or two. That means we need more resources and stronger business engagement than we have seen so far.”
According to PCK’s activity report “Flood 2024. One Year After the Cataclysm,” the organization has allocated over PLN 42 million—raised through the #NaRatunekPowódź campaign—to completed and ongoing relief operations. Support has come not only from individual donors but also from corporate contributors.
“We are a nationwide, network-based organization, which is why nationwide initiatives and strong business involvement in long-term projects are the most important for us,” Szukała said. “We value one-off partnerships as well, but when a business engages in a long-term project, the help becomes more effective and strengthens local communities. That is what is most valuable to us. With our branches, volunteers, and staff across Poland, we know local community needs and have worked for years—as the Polish Red Cross—to respond to them.”
In 2024, the Polish Red Cross had 37,861 members affiliated with regional branches and local units. In addition, more than 3,900 people signed agreements for long-term volunteering, alongside many event-based volunteers who join specific actions related to emergencies and initiatives supporting people in difficult situations.
