The drive, backed by celebrities, culminated on Sunday after fundraising efforts across Poland and a host of other countries with Polish communities, including Britain, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US and Australia.
The money collected will be used to support paediatric health care and to buy modern medical equipment.
This year’s fundraiser was the 28th of its kind.
Before midnight, the total collected stood at over PLN 115 million (USD 30m, EUR 27m) and the money was expected to continue pouring in.
Celebrities pitched in by putting up personal items for a charity auction.
Polish author Olga Tokarczuk donated a gold-plated replica of her Nobel Prize medal. Other goodies up for grabs in the auction were a dinner with Polish football star Robert Lewandowski and a fashion show in Paris with top model Anja Rubik.
Impresario Jerzy Owsiak, the driving force behind the charity effort, has announced that funds from a Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity collection in Australia will go to help the victims of disastrous bushfires which have ravaged that country since September.
According to the organizers, last year's effort brought in over 1.1 billion PLN.
(pk)
Source: PAP
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