Global Company’s Poland Office Helps Colleagues Rescue Refugee Relatives
PRA Group’s Poland Employees Volunteer at Border Crossings and Open Homes to Ukrainians
NORFOLK, VA – Nonperforming loan purchaser PRA Group’s (Nasdaq: PRAA), Poland office has launched into action to support the Ukrainian refugee crisis in any way they can. Since the invasion, they have worked to gather and donate items like food, medical supplies and hygiene products while also securing housing for those affected and sometimes providing shelter for refugees in their own homes.
When Kevin Stevenson, PRA Group’s president and CEO, notified employees of PRA Group’s $50,000 donation to support the Poland office’s outreach, an employee from PRA Group Canada wrote back to ask whether someone in Poland could assist her cousin in leaving the country and finding refuge. She was quickly connected with Karol Piętka, country operations director of PRA Group Poland, who offered to pick up the cousin and her seven-year-old daughter from the border.
As the two made plans to leave their hometown for Lviv by train, Piętka called his Ukrainian nanny to help bridge the language barrier so they could solidify their multi-step strategy.
The duo arrived safely, and the following day news arrived that their hometown had been bombed. Having received their Canadian visas, they are now reunited with family.
As the company’s Poland team works to connect other Ukrainians fleeing the war with family members and safe shelters west of the border, they identified three locations housing nearly 1,700 refugees to support with PRA Group’s contribution: Szafir Resort Moryń, Hotel Ossa and Frajda Resort Czarnocin.
Szafir Resort Moryń is shelter to a group of 109 children and their guardians from an orphanage from Guliaypol. The children arrived with small backpacks, tired, hungry and weak. Likewise, Hotel Ossa is a conference center providing shelter to 1,500 orphaned children from Ukraine. Frajda Resort Czarnocin has become home for 90 people—30 adults and 60 children—fleeing the war. PRA Group’s contribution is helping to supply these facilities with medical and educational care, meals and water, clothing, heating, fuel for transport and other essential services.
“We are working to ensure this contribution reaches the refugees where it will make the greatest impact,” said Piętka. “We will use any reserve funding to purchase fuel, supplies and other immediate necessities to aid our team members as they provide supplies, transport and shelter. I speak on behalf of the entire company when I say we could not be prouder of the profound empathy with which our Poland team is responding to this devastating crisis.”
Many organizations have come to the aid of Ukrainians since the Russian invasion. To learn about a few of these resources and how to support them, visit Global Empowerment Mission, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Rescue Committee, Polish Humanitarian Action and Save the Children.