FOUNDATION HISTORY

The seed was planted many years ago when the Dobrowolski family decided that, in lieu of flowers for the funeral of the late Jozef Dobrowolski, moneys should be set aside for an educational fund. 

In January 1993, the Parental Advisory Committee of the Polish School in Ottawa sent a Questionnaire on the Future of the School to all parents associated with the school and to the Polish community. The survey met with a very good response and showed that the opening of a second location in the western part of the city would satisfy the current needs and that there would be enough students to maintain all class levels at both locations. During the school year, a few months before the division of the school sites, new teachers were recruited, who helped in overcrowded classes, and had the opportunity to get acquainted with the nature of Saturday school's work.

At the Annual General Meeting of the Polish School on May 29, 1993, the following resolution was passed:

"With regard to the significant increase in the number of children in the school and the creation of a new location of the school at Our Lady of Fatima, it is resolved that: In the interest of maintaining unity in the Polish community and creating a solid legal and financial foundation for the future, in a situation where further government grants may not be certain, a new form of social school organization should be established - Polish Heritage School in Ottawa Inc. - which would be one and common for both schools. This organization would be a non-profit corporation and would apply for charitable status. The new school organization would be led by the Board of Directors or Executive, which would include representation of parents from both schools. By the end of September 1993, a 5-person working group selected by the Parental Advisory Committee would prepare a registration form, a proposal for by-laws, and temporarily accept the duties of the School Board until it is appointed."

In January 1993, the Polish School received a financial inheritance from the late Zofia Podoska, sister of the late Wiktor Podoski, the patron of the school. This money went to the existing Education Fund at the school and - as the sum was not small - it was necessary to seriously consider the disposition of the funds. The Inheritance Committee, selected from members of the Parentalal Advisory Committee and Teaching Staff, worked out several solutions for the disposition of the funds. The final decision was made during the Annual General Meeting of the Polish School on May 29, 1994. It was resolved to transfer this money to the account of the newly formed Polish Heritage Foundation of Ottawa Inc.

"The organization of the Foundation was carried out by a team consisting of: K. Anna Binkowska, Andrzej Gołębiowski, Frank Grabowiecki, Jerzy Jarmasz, Jolanta Kania, Ludwik Klimkowski, Wiesław Kuran, Szczepan Morawski, Andrzej Ruta, Józef Semrau, Cezary Słaby, Joanna Wawrzyńczak and Włodzimierz Ziemba. As a result of the efforts of this group, registration documentation, by-laws and the concept of the organizational structure were prepared. In March 1994, the foundation was formally incorporated as a non-profit corporation. The last stage of establishing the Foundation as a charitable organization related to obtaining a registration number from Revenue Canada, thereby enabling the Foundation to provide income tax receipts for all donations received. As a result of the conceptual work during the organizational preparations, the Foundation's formula was developed, which went beyond the issues of Polish schools, and broadly covered the Polish community in Ottawa."

In December 2002, in order to increase its reach among all Polish communities in Canada, the Foundation received permission to change its official name from the Polish Heritage Foundation of Ottawa Inc. to Polish Heritage Foundation of Canada Inc. To date, the Polish Heritage Foundation of Canada has disbursed OVER $100,000 to Polish organizations across

Foundation Presidents 

Dr. Cezary Słaby 1993-1998 

Dr. Andrzej Gołębiowski 1998-2010 

Tadeusz Kulisz 2010-2022

Beata Wojsyk 2022-present

Directors throughout the years 

Anweiler, Piotr 2007-2022

Binkowska, Krystyna A. 1995-1998 

Cychowska, Ewa 1999-2000 

Daniel, Arkadiusz 2019- 

Gołębiowski, dr. Andrzej 1993-1998 

Gogolewska-Meres, Iwona 1994-1998 

Grabowiecki, Frank 1994-1998

Jarmasz, dr. Jerzy 1993-2002 

Kardys, Monika 2021-

Kielar, Stanisław 2007-2022 

Klimkowski, Ludwik 1994-1997

Kornas, Bożena 1998-2000 

Kulisz, Tadeusz 1999-2010

Kuran, Wiesław 1993-1997, 2015- 

Marshall, Iwona 1998-1999 

Michałowska, Elżbieta 1998-2006 

Morawski, Szczepan 1993-1994 

Pękalski, Lech 1999-2005 

Piłat, Marianna 1997-2000 

Pietryga, Janusz 1997- 

Placewicz, Maria 2017-2021

Podsadowska, Marcel 2021-

Ratkowska, Grażyna 2013-2019 

Ruta, Andrzej 1993-1994 

Semrau, José 1994- 

Sulińska, Urszula 2017- 

Wawrzyńczak, Joanna 1994-1997 

Wawrzyńczak, Waldemar 1994-1997 

Wielgosz, Bożena 1994-1997 

Wojsyk, Beata 2019- 

Zadarnowska, Ewa 2007-