Disaster Response Poland Project #66706

Flood 2024 - Poland needs support

by Fundacja im. Doktora Piotra Janaszka PODAJ DALEJ/ Doctor Piotr Janaszek PAY IT FORWARD Foundation

Project Report | Jun 6, 2025
Sebastian returns!

By Filip Sobieszek | Project Leader

PAY IT FORWARD - Sebastian returns

Sebastian Returns to Help Flood Victims – For the 16th Time

Sebastian is back in southern Poland—and this isn’t his second or even fifth time helping flood victims. It’s his sixteenth journey,together with the help of PAY IT FORWARD Foundation, to support people affected by devastating floods. His last visit was in January 2025, but unfortunately, that trip ended badly for him. He was scammed and robbed. However, that didn’t break his spirit.

After taking some time to recover, Sebastian is once again dedicating himself to helping those in need. For over a week now, he has been hard at work assisting people in the Krosnowice and Pisary region, near the Polish-Czech border. While the area wasn’t widely affected by the recent floods, one unfortunate trio living right by the river lost nearly everything.

Among them is Mr. Roman, a man paralyzed since birth, who survives on a meager $250 monthly budget to cover bills, food, and medicine. Besides helping with repairs, Sebastian personally bought him a washing machine and even insured it against future flood damage—all from his own pocket.

Sebastian's deep compassion keeps him from turning a blind eye to those in silent suffering. As he says, "Those who need help the most are often the least likely to ask for it."

He also lent a hand to a local painter whose home—an architectural heritage site from 1901—was destroyed by the flood. Despite a few disagreements during the process, Sebastian installed flooring, repainted walls, and mounted a new water heater. The results, as shown in photos, are stunning.

Another family he helped was an elderly couple who had initially used their private van to deliver food to others at the early stage of the flood crisis. Once Sebastian heard about their selfless actions, he knew he had to repay their kindness. Months after the disaster, the situation in many flood-affected regions remains dire. Homes and businesses are still in ruins. Tourism and commerce have vanished. But this only fuels Sebastian’s determination to continue his work.

His mission goes beyond manual labor. Thanks to donations sent through the GlobalGiving platform, the PAY IT FORWARD Foundation provides Sebastian with additional funds to buy essential items for flood victims—such as a gas-powered blower, one of his latest purchases.

How does Sebastian find the people he helps? Initially, he relied on local residents and multiple social media groups. Now, after so many trips, people recognize him. Word of mouth works wonders—even in 2025.

Helping others, however, is never easy. Sebastian has made countless sacrifices—most recently sleeping in a former border guard station and working physically for over 12 hours a day. He also warns about an alarming trend: fake contractors exploiting flood victims, taking money and vanishing without doing the promised work.

But where there is need, there is Sebastian. The PAY IT FORWARD Foundation and the people of flood-stricken regions know they can always count on him—because he never gives up on doing good. And with your support, it will be possible for a long time.

PAY IT FORWARD - Sebastian returns

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Krosnowice during the flood of September 15-17, 2024

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Feb 10, 2025
"Dad, I'll help because I can!"

By Filip Sobieszek | Project Leader

PAY IT FORWARD - Sebastian's help

"Dad, I'll help because I can!" – These were the strongest words I heard from my four-year-old son Ksawery. It gave me a motivational boost and made me move from thinking about helping to immediate action.

Help started with my son. Usually, I don't watch TV, but on September 15, 2024, the day this whole tragedy began, I turned on the TV, the news on the Internet, terrifying pictures of the raging element were shown everywhere. My four-year-old son Ksawery was watching these live broadcasts with me. He saw how depressed I was seeing the whole situation so he asked what happened. When I explained to him what was happening, he listened to me carefully, hugged me and said, "I will help because I can!" It was an eye-opening moment for me. Such a small child knows what to do and I still hesitate, wonder and complain. I started calling friends, writing posts on social media asking what I could do to help, get in touch and reach people in need. The result was that on September 21, we arrived in the south of Poland with a convoy of three buses, fully loaded with help, and we started to act. I had never been involved in any kind of volunteering or helping anyone on a permanent basis, but I knew from that first trip that I was already addicted to helping! Even when I'm at home, I can't settle down and I want to come back quickly to help or I'm looking for people who need support where I live.

My first trip took place on September 21, 2024 to the Kodzko Valley, exactly near Ladek Zdrój to Radochów. Entrepreneurs who rented houses there put them at our disposal, free of charge, for volunteers or for people who had lost a roof over their heads, so that they could live there until the situation with their destroyed homes was resolved. We also helped to clean and secure the primary school in Ladek Zdrój. These were my greatest achievements during the first trip.

I thought it was my first and last journey. I was so wrong! Now I go back and help whenever I find a free moment. The entrepreneurs I mentioned earlier help me pre-select people in need. Together we look for those who have suffered the most, for example single mothers with several children. Most often, our help involves cleaning the flooded areas and, at a later stage, renovating the buildings.

With the money from your earliest payments, I helped a lady who needed thermal insulation for her floor. The previous one was damaged by water.

Recently I have been helping Mrs. Marianna, for whom we were initially going to buy a refrigerator, but it turned out that a much more important and urgent need was to renovate her bathroom. Now it's very cold in Poland during winter and because of that, food won't spoil so quickly, and Mrs. Marianna HAS TO use the bathroom.

I also constantly meet people I helped before. For example, I recently ran into a lady in a store whom I helped at the very beginning of the flood and who complained that she had recently hired a specialist to renovate her house and that this specialist was plastering and painting the still wet walls. Immediately the moisture began to show up and this led to the appearance of mold. So I went to this lady and renovated her walls so that she could live safely, peacefully and without any health hazards.

My help mainly consists of any heavy physical work. I don't take any remuneration for this. The PAY IT FORWARD Foundation gives me a specific amount of money and I use that money to buy whatever I need and help with cleaning and rebuilding. All of this is possible thanks to the support of you - the donors from GlobalGiving.

Sometimes I also sit down with flood victims and we just talk. Listening, giving support and a good word are as important as physical help. Such conversations usually take place over tea and cake. It's a small thing, but the people I help are very happy that they can repay me in this way.

I have complete freedom in choosing the people I want to help and I always choose people in the biggest need, not the first, "accidental" flood victim. I am extremely grateful for the trust that the Foundation places in me. Insurance does not always cover even a small part of the victims' needs, which is why help like ours becomes extremely important.

During my last trip, I was very surprised because I was established as a leader of… an army unit. I, a civilian, gave instructions to soldiers, which is a completely unusual situation, but no one had any problem with it. Everyone was friendly and listened to what I was saying. We were united by a common goal and the feeling that we were doing something very, very important together. But I didn't expect to see something like this!

As long as I have the strength and there is a need, I will continue helping! So far, we have managed to help 50 people affected by the flood, for whom everything was taken away by the great water. And I hope I can help even more.

Sebastian does not limit himself only to helping flood victims. When he is at home in Konin, he also tries to support those in need. Recently, for example, he managed to obtain coal for heating in the winter and deliver it to elderly people in the town of Guchoazy.

We are so happy to have people like YOU and Sebastian around us! We help because we can!

PAY IT FORWARD - Sebastian's help

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Jan 7, 2025
The makeover of teenager's room.

By Filip Sobieszek | Project Leader

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