Troy, Michigan, March 9, 2025
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to be home once again and to visit with my Polonia family. Happy birthday i na pewno życzę wam Sto Lat.
In reflecting upon my involvement, I reviewed all newsletters and annual reports over my 23 years as your President and 1 year as Executive Vice President. It always amazes me what we have accomplished. I became active in 1972 as a delegate from PNA Lodge 1758 and immediately was asked to serve on a fundraising committee. Talk about being immersed in our organization’s activities immediately. At that time we were located on the second floor office above the Polish Art Center.
My next involvement came as our Polish brothers and sisters fought for their freedom during the Solidarity era. I was asked by President Kazimierz Olejarczyk and Wlodzimierz Zmurkiewicz to collect shoes for Poland – for only 2 weeks. Three months later I was still doing this and expanded from shoes to medical supplies and food. From the State of Michigan we received 75,000 pairs of shoes. They came from Polonia organizations which were PNA, PRCUA, Falcons, Alliance of Poles, Polish Veterans, among others. Also Lions Clubs of Michigan, Knights of Columbus, Rotary, Kiwanis Clubs and even the Baptist Churches assisted us.
As the news got out through the media I was contacted by other non-Polish groups offering their help. We had the use of an old furniture store as the owner was liquidating his stock. After I had asked the owner to use the building he offered to leave the electricity on and phone lines and heat for our use. He offered this without charging us. I would come in everyday and change shoes, since it was a concrete floor, then change again before going home. Mr. Olejarczyk loved telling the story when my shoes were sent to Poland accidently. We had an elderly gentleman who would polish the shoes before they were shipped. He accidently included my shoes in the shipment. The Polish veterans also cleaned and polished the slightly used shoes. Our ladies prepared meals for us.
When that project wound down, the Polish Bishops requested food and then medical supplies. So began an 8 year endeavor. The first 3 months were shoes, the rest other supplies. I found an organization called World Medical Relief under the leadership of Irene Auberlin and that began a years long relationship. She had purchased an 8 story warehouse (by selling her personal home) and stocked it with medical goods of all types. She truly put herself wholeheartedly into this endeavor. She even lived at the warehouse, with her pet German Shepard. Whenever a hospital purchased new supplies, she would ask for the old (still good) supplies. That was how beds, computers, surgical gloves, various types of equipment, and so much more could be shipped wherever it was needed. There was a Pharmacy where the Polish Veterans of America helped in packing medicines for shipment. Outside of World Medial Relief offices I saw a 40 foot container loaded with diapers. I was able to get permission to transfer that load to our container and it was shipped to Poland.
Some of the contacts that I brought to this relationship included having contact with the International Relief Organization located outside of Grand Rapids, being on the Board of Directors of two hospitals, and on the Board of the International Red Cross where I interacted with their directors. Through these contacts we were able to secure numerous donations. I also had a crew of volunteers who aided by physically loading the containers with items from the warehouse. Mrs. Auberlin would occasionally oversee the loading of the containers and made sure to point out that every inch of available space should be filled. If a small box of bandages or extra diapers could be fit in she made sure we did that.
The bottom line after our efforts were completed, we sent $100 million dollars worth of food and medical supplies to Poland from Michigan . This amounted to ½ of the total that all of Polonia had sent. Everyone worked together in this cause, Poles and non-Poles alike helped. There were Ukrainians, Italians, Mexican, Irish among many others who willingly offered to help and volunteered their time to assist Poland. My parents cooked and served Polish meals to the volunteers who loaded the containers. When the word went out that Poland needed help, donations can in from all across Michigan, for which we are very grateful.
When I was asked to serve as Executive Vice President, little did I know that after one year I would be thrown into the Presidency. Even though I felt they could find someone else to serve that was more experienced, more proficient in the language and Polish issues, I finally agreed to run and serve with the understanding that everyone who had encouraged me to seek the Presidency would help the PAC by continuing to serve on various committees and offer their advice. They agreed.
Among the things that I noticed when I became President was that younger people who attended the meetings often wouldn’t return. They told me that they didn’t understand the language and didn’t have the time to sit through a meeting lasting 2-3 hours. So I promised to shorten the meetings and have them conducted bilingually (in Polish and English). Another thing that I noted was that not every Polish organization was represented. The way I sought to remedy this is by attending their meetings and speaking about the PAC thereby giving them encouragement to join and come to our meetings. At our best, we had 105 organizations and 350 individual members in the PAC.
One important ingredient to develop a consensus among our members was to involve them in deciding how to approach our mission. Another ingredient to creating this consensus was communication through our bilingual newsletter, a segment on the Polish Varieties radio program, news in the Dziennik Polski, Polish Weekly, and the Hamtramck Citizen. This is how we developed our recipe for success, through fund raising, increasing our membership, activities, having an agenda for Polish issues and acting on it. Our headquarters served as a visible sign … bricks and mortar … of our stability and staying power in the community. We were the only District to own our building outright.
I was honored and personally asked by the White House to host two visits by U.S. President George Bush. I was also invited, along with my wife Janice, to have lunch with the younger President Bush and the President of Poland. Because of my personal relationship with our U.S. Senator Dingell, I was able to ask U.S. Senator Carl Levin for his assistance in raising $20,000 for Poland’s relief during the Solidarity years. U.S. Senator Donald Riegle directed his speaking honorarium be sent to our Division. We are fortunate to have among our members Judge John Chmura, who I recommended to the Governor for his judgeship. He has been chairing the Polish Day Parade for approximately 20 plus years. I was the previous past President of this Parade.
Pope John Paul II stressed that “our strength comes from faith, from God himself.” He reminds us that “Solidarity must take precedence over conflict … solidarity means a way of existing … in unity, with respect for our differences.” The best investment for the future of Polonia and Poland is to be involved.
God bless you for what we have done, and for what we will do in the future. Sto Lat.
Paul Odrobina
From the editor: Mr. Paul Odrobina was the PAC-MI president for 22 years (the longest presidency in the organization’s history).
