Who we are

GH Hope & Help Foundation is a registered Polish nonprofit based in Racibórz — a town in the south-west of Poland, close to the Czech border. It was born from a simple belief: no one in our region should face hardship alone, and a community is judged by how it treats its children, the sick and families most in need.

Our registration details reflect a small, transparent and accountable organisation. The foundation is entered in the National Court Register under KRS 0000848727, NIP 6392020264 and REGON 386453969. Our office is at Janusza Korczaka 33, 47-400 Racibórz — an address chosen deliberately, among ordinary families, because they are the people we work for. Anyone can reach us at [email protected] — every donor, partner or journalist gets the same honest answer.

From local roots

The foundation did not appear from nowhere. Its founders and first volunteers come from local business, sport and education — people who for years watched small clubs, schools and care homes struggle with shortages that look tiny from afar and huge up close: a set of training kits, a holiday trip for children from a care home, a heating bill that arrives in the worst month. Instead of complaining, they decided to get organised.

From its first months the foundation chose a broad but clearly defined field of action. We support youth sport — football clubs such as LKS 07 Markowice, the Racibórz Kyokushin Karate Club and dozens of teams competing every weekend on village pitches. We support institutional care — above all the children's home in Samborowice, whose children we take on trips and garden parties and for whom we raise funds to build their own “Magic Garden”. We support the very fabric of community — volunteer fire brigades such as the one in Cyprzanów, which celebrated 140 years of service, and local cultural and religious traditions such as the annual equestrian Hubertus.

How we work

We believe help must be concrete. That is why our projects are rarely abstract: we do not “promote youth sport” — we buy medals, prepare the pitch and invite an Olympic champion. We do not “support vulnerable children” — we answer their letters to Santa Claus one by one and hand every child the gift of their dreams. We do not “respond to crises” — we pack vans with food, hygiene products and blankets for families who fled the war in Ukraine, and we drive them where they are needed.

Our model rests on three pillars. First, local partnerships: we work side by side with schools, clubs, parishes, care homes and public institutions that know exactly where help is needed. Second, volunteer power: most of every donation turns into things, services and experiences, not administration costs. Third, transparency: every project lands on our news page with dates, photos and results, so donors see exactly what their generosity created.

The people of the foundation

Behind GH Hope & Help stands a small team and a much wider circle of friends. President Małgorzata Herman has led the foundation from the very beginning, personally opening tournaments, visiting families and welcoming garden-party guests. Around her work board members, coordinators and dozens of volunteers — parents, athletes, firefighters, teachers — who give their evenings and weekends. Many of our partners are institutions: the Silesian Football Association, the City of Racibórz, local companies and clubs from the Silesian and Opole regions.

We are proud that participants consistently describe our events as warm, well organised and family-like. That is no accident. It comes from the belief that how we act matters as much as what we do. A child welcomed at a tournament like an honoured guest learns something different from a child tolerated at the edge of the pitch. A family that receives a gift hamper with dignity, in person and with a kind word, experiences charity differently from one left a parcel at the door.

Why “Hope & Help”

Our name describes our method. Hope is the promise we make to our beneficiaries: that their situation is not final, that someone sees them and cares. Help is the promise to donors: that their money turns into something real — a shirt on a child's back, a warm meal, a renovated playground, a set of medals, a firefighter's new equipment. Hope without help is an empty word; help without hope is mere logistics. Every day we try to give both.

If you want to learn more, work with us or support a specific project, we invite you to explore the rest of the site — our mission, programs and news — or simply write to us. The door at Janusza Korczaka 33 is open.