presence at her funeral was appreciated by her family and friends. There will be a tree planted in her honour in one of the Toronto parks. In the spring we began our preparations for the General Meeting of the Federation which took place virtually on May 15th. At that meeting we discussed and approved some changes in the Statute and By-Laws, elected a new Executive and committees. I would like to express my thanks to Nina Kolesnikoff for the preparation of all the documents, to Zofia de Witt for chairing the meeting and to Andrzej Walny for his technical assistance in conducting this virtual event. At the last meeting of the Executive before the General Meeting we discussed the need to help Ukraine. We decided to send a donation of $1,500 to the Fund “Czesc Dziewczyny!”, established by the Kulczyk Foundation. Various branches of our Federation sent donations to charities of their choice. On behalf of our organization I participated in many important events such as: • the raising of the Polish flag in front of the Ontario Parliament to celebrate the Day of the Polish Constitution, • the Great Parade as part of the celebration of the month of Polish Heritage and the commemoration of the Warsaw Uprising during WWII, • at the meetings of the Canadian Polish Congress and the Millenium Fund. • On June 12th members of Branch 17 laid wreaths on the graves of the General Haller`s soldiers in Niagara-on -the-Lake. • In September I participated in the conference “Poland and Emigration” organized by the Association “Wspolnota Polska”. The speakers, who represented the Polish government and members of European Union, focused their attention on the questions of new political situation after February 24th 2022, the important role played by Polish diaspora in defending the good reputation of Poland and Polish people. • Following the Warsaw Conference I travelled to Vilnius to attend the General Meeting of World Polonia Council and of the World Federation of Polish Women. The General Meeting of the World Polonia Council was attended by 72 delegates from 19 countries as well as dignitaries from the Senate and Parliament of Poland. It was a very important event for the Polish people in Poland and abroad. Delegates discussed future plans of the World Polonia Council and presented suggestions and guidelines to be implemented by a newly elected Executive for the years 2022-2026. • At the meeting of the World Federation of Polish Women we examined the ways of close cooperation between groups, of organizing special conferences and of creating a webpage to share some information on the work of numerous women`s organizations. We have some ambitious plans to improve our contacts and to increase our activities for the benefit of Polish women around the world. Along with Iwona Bogorya Buczkowski I looked into the question of dormant Polish accounts in the Toronto Credit Union. Following a number of meetings with the Bank manager and the submission of necessary documents, these accounts were closed and the funds were transferred to the account of the Executive of the FPwK. I conducted a search and negotiations with several companies regarding the modernization of our website. At this point we are very close to signing a contract and I urge our members to prepare materials for the renovated site, including photographs, interesting stories about individual branches and their activities. The new website will be our visiting card to the world. I also initiated a search for a company to renovate the panels for the exhibit “Polish Spirit” in order to replace old frames by new ones, made of long-lasting material. We submitted an application for a grant to the Polish Consulate and expect a decision next spring. The Polish Canadian Women`s Federation made the following donations: $1,500. to help Ukraine, $50. to the Foundation of John Paul II in Vatican $50. to the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, Switzerland. I would like to extend my thanks to the members of the Executive for their involvement and help in making good decisions, to Ania Wolochacz for taking care of our Facebook, to Malgosia Boczkowski for preparing our beautiful magazine Informator, to Marysia Ambroszkiewicz for managing our account, to Magda Szewczyk for her help, to Marysia Szymanska and Danusia Potworowski for their wise advice.

I would like to wish all our members all the best in 2023, a stable situation in the world, good health and willingess to help those in need! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Katarzyna Grandwilewska, President of PCWF

find more info in INFORMATOR #197