Charity

PZU Foundation

“Close to people and their needs”

The PZU Foundation has carried out the PZU Group’s philanthropic activities forming part of its social involvement strategy since 2004. The aim of the Foundation is to promote education of children and youth, support talents and equalize opportunities for people with disabilities, as well as to increase access to cultural and social goods, in other words – to advance the broadly defined development of civic society. The Foundation collaborates with non-governmental organizations, both in Poland and abroad, institutions, sports clubs, schools and universities, and assists in execution of projects in terms of substance, organization and finance.

The PZU Foundation awards subsidies to natural persons in difficult life circumstances. It supports them mainly by financing treatment (including surgeries performed abroad), rehabilitation, purchase of medication and rehabilitation equipment. In 2021, subsidies were awarded to 411 individuals.

Grant contests are programs addressed to non-governmental organizations, whose activity is consistent with the areas of activity of the PZU Foundation and the scope defined in the regulations of the individual contests. The “After School with the PZU Foundation” contest supports organizations that develop interesting and creative additional activities for children and youth. The “Young Able Disabled with the PZU Foundation” contest supports activities that increase self-sufficiency and activity of persons with disabilities, while the “PZU Foundation with Culture” contest expands access to high culture. In 2021, grants were awarded to carry out 63 projects in favor of 5,011 beneficiaries. There are plans to organize subsequent editions of the following contests: “After School with the PZU Foundation”, “Young Able Disabled with the PZU Foundation”, “PZU Foundation with Culture”.

The purpose of the PZU Foundation during the pandemic was to provide grants to projects in the area of culture and education, in the form of, among others, support of organizations engaged in artistic activities in film and theater. In 2021, the PZU Foundation subsidized 21 projects submitted by the organizations which had prepared art-related actions connected with film and theater ventures addressed to various social groups: children and youth, the elderly, people with disabilities, as well as inhabitants of small towns and villages, with difficult access to high culture. The projects produced films, theater performances, festivals and workshops. They took various forms, including: presentations, performances, meetings, activity sessions, workshops, both face-to-face and online. Approximately 100,000 persons were beneficiaries of these events.

Volunteerism

The Employee Volunteerism Program has been in operation in PZU since 2012. PZU and PZU Życie operates the PZU Group’s Employee Volunteerism Rules and Regulations. Since 2020, PZU employees can have two additional days of leave to devote to actions taken as employee volunteers. In 2021-2024, the ESG Strategy adopted in PZU and PZU Życie, envisages a total of 50,000 hours of employee volunteerism to help 200,000 beneficiaries.

As part of the volunteering activities, PZU employees implemented 97 original projects and devoted 12,179 hours to their volunteering work in 2021. This is how they helped 34,981 beneficiaries, almost 50% of whom were children and young people. Their efforts also reached 4,442 animals in need.

In 2021, the PZU Foundation, in collaboration with the Dobra Sieć Foundation, executed a PZU’s pilot employee e-volunteerism project on the TuDu.org.pl platform. It was a response to the restrictions imposed in the time of the pandemic, which prevented activities in traditional form. Sixty PZU employees registered with the TuDu.org.pl.

The pilot project included the following:

• promotional and educational campaigns addressed to PZU Group’s employees as well as community organizations;
• webinar on e-volunteering for interested employees;
• volunteer action in favor of the Ocalenie Foundation, coordinated and prepared by the Dobra Sieć Foundation;
• on-going moderation and promotion of the TuDu.org.pl platform, serving small online volunteering acts, on which the PZU Foundation has its account.

In 2021, another pilot project was launched, entitled “ABC of Empathy – Inclusive Education and Rearing for Empathy”, executed as an employee volunteerism venture. The PZU Foundation, in collaboration with the substantive partner the Czepczyński Family Foundation, organized a series of online information and training meetings, designed to prepare employees to hold workshops on empathy in selected schools and pre-schools. As part of this pilot project, in the school year 2020/2021 PZU volunteers organized meetings on empathy in 40 schools and pre-schools.

Statistical data: PZU and PZU Życie 

Selected volunteerism projects authored by PZU employees

• A Therapeutic Corner. A room for children with special needs. The project adapted one of the rooms in the School and Pre-School Complex in Olszanka into a therapy activities room. A former utility room was tidied up, refreshed, the walls – painted. It was then furnished with suitable furniture and didactic aids. Thanks to the work of the volunteers, the school obtained a new room for therapeutic activities, and the children – a friendly place to work in.
• Onco-Chamoix on Mountain Peaks. In this project, PZU volunteers collaborated with the Foundation Pełną Piersią – Bra Day Poland, which works for development of breast reconstruction. At the beginning of July 2021, a group of women after or in the course of breast cancer treatment, went for a hike in the Tatra Mountains. Together, they hiked for three days along mountain trails, including the Via Ferrata. The second part of the hike was organized for experienced mountain hikers. The ladies moved to the Terrycho Chata mountain lodge situated over 2,000 a.s.l, and on the next day, with the support of qualified guides, they climbed up the Lodowy Szczyt (Ice Peak). The project invited Dorota Szparaga (of PZU), a climber experienced in many mountain expeditions, who, among others, hiked twice the Main Beskidy Trail, covering over 1,000 km in 25 days. During an on-line meeting, she shared her experiences with the hike participants, answering questions regarding both safety in the mountains, as well as proper nutrition. The hike offered a moment of respite from everyday routines, allowed the participants to “recharge batteries” and expanded their knowledge about an active lifestyle – which is so important in breast cancer treatment.
• May with Masovian Animals. An initiative of PZU employees from Warsaw. The volunteers helped 47 cats under the care of Stowarzyszenie Ochrony Zwierząt – Mazowieckie Zwierzaki, by providing a stock of cat food, kitty litter, and spending time with the felines at a vet surgery.

Employee volunteerism is also present in the other companies of the PZU Group, including Bank Pekao, Alior Bank, LINK4, and the foreign insurance companies.

Remaining activities of the PZU Group

Among other charitable activities of the PZU Group’s companies, the most notable include:

Support for groups at risk of social exclusion

• For a few years now, Balta has been cooperating with charitable organization “Bērnu rīts” (“Children’s morning”), engaging their employees twice a year: in September, as the school year begins, when it provides donations for purchases of school supplies, and in Christmas time. Before the school year started, AAS BALTA employees took care of 30 children from foster families and, as part of a Christmas donation, provided presents to 50 children.
• PZU Lithuania Life supports community projects to develop assistance to people with disabilities and ensure their adaptation to life in society at large. In 2021, the company provided financial support to a theater for actors with disabilities founded by Svetlana Šulc, a theater director.

Support for large families

• Since 2018, PZU has been a partner of the Large Family Card (KDR) Program, which is a discount scheme for large families with at least three children. KDR enables them to use e.g. cultural, recreational, transport, financial offers across Poland. As part of the Partnership, PZU, PZU Życie and PZU Zdrowie provide KDR holders with the possibility to use the PZU offer on preferential terms (e.g. discounts for selected non-life insurance policies and health services).
• AAS Balta is a member of the Goda ģimene (“Honorable Family”) scheme, which supports large families, and – since 2021 – also families with persons with disabilities, by attracting socially responsible companies that offer large discounts to these families. Under this program, AAS BALTA offers discounts of up to 40% for insurance policies to families holding the “Goda ģimene” card, and this offer is available to over 43 thousand adults covered by the “Goda ģimene” scheme.

Protection of the European bison

• For many years now, Bank Pekao has been consistently involved in efforts aimed at protecting the Polish bison. The aid provided by the bank is earmarked, among others, to the diversification and development of the bison population, care for bison herds, as well as financial support for the research and educational projects advancing protection of this unique species at the verge of extinction. For two decades, BANK Pekao has supported operation of the Białowieża National Park, as the Park’s sponsor and partner. The funds provided by the Bank cover a part of the Park’s expenses for the monitoring of bison in the backwoods, purchase of provender for the winter, and winter stock-taking. Thanks to the support of Bank Pekao, The Show Bison Reserve – the most frequently visited tourist attraction in the Białowieża National Park – could be modernized, including new equipment to its educational pavilion. The Bank also supports other institutions providing care for the Polish bison, including the Bison Show Enclosure in Pszczyna. The Enclosure organizes lessons about nature, and there is always a chance to meet a bison family and other animals during a walk outdoors. The Warsaw Zoo is another beneficiary of the Bank’s financial support. In addition, Bank Pekao provides grants to the Panda Foundation operating in collaboration with the Warsaw Zoo, and assists in the care over the Warsaw bison herd, of nine animals.