85th Anniversary

On September 2, 2024, the Legion of Young Polish Women, Legion Młodych Polek, celebrated eighty-five years of uninterrupted philanthropy. This outstanding achievement would not have been possible without the insight of Helen Lenard Piekło and a group of her friends. Founded on September 2, 1939, their initial purpose was to help the people of Poland in their time of need. These visionary women and those who followed their volunteer path have solicited and donated over $2 million to many worthy causes.

During World War II, the Legion was able to send food and clothing to Polish prisoners of war and was able to deliver medical equipment, hospital beds, and ambulances to the Polish Army Hospital in Great Britain. The end of the War and the occupation of Poland by an oppressive communist regime created an even greater need. Assistance was given to the Polish Veterans in Italy, the Polish Mission in Argentina, the Polish Library in Paris, and the Sikorski Institute in London. The Legion supported Solidarność, the Solidarity Movement, by providing financial aid for the purchase of food, clothing, and medicine. The Legion’s “Medical Supplies to Poland” Project provided over $88,000 in supplies to smaller Polish clinics.

The Legion continues to ensure that Polish culture, heritage, and traditions remain an integral part of its ethnically diverse country. It financially assisted in the establishment of the Chair of Polish Language and Literature at the University of Chicago and supported the Loyola University Chicago Polish Studies Program. It continues its support of the Gift from the Heart Foundation, Dom Samotnej Matki, and various other organizations. The Legion has supported The Polish Museum of America by providing financial assistance in the preservation of the maps of Poland, the Kosciuszko Letters of the American Revolution, and the Ignacy Paderewski Room, just to name a few. It has financially supported the Polish Resistance (AK) Foundation and the production of documentaries about Polish World War II heroine, Irena Sendler, “In the Name of Their Mothers” and “The Officer’s Wife” about the Katyń Forest Massacre. The Legion is proud to have been a benefactor of the “Peace Through Music - In the Spirit of John Paul II” Concert, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

For many years, the Legion has supported the young people and the Polish American community through substantial contributions to Harcerstwo, the Polish Scouting Association, Polish language schools, Polish folk-dance troupes, and the scholarship funds of the Knights of Dabrowski’s “Crusade for Education” and the Council of Educators in Polonia.

In 2022, the Legion helped organize, along with the Polish American Medical Society Junior Board, the Ukraine Relief Drive with donations of clothing, baby formula & diapers, over the counter medicines, and other much needed supplies. Members helped pack over 1,600 boxes, 35 tons, that were shipped to Poland.

The Legion’s concerns reach beyond its ethnic scope, as evidenced by many gifts of in-kind donations to various food pantries, women’s shelters, hospitals, veterans, animal shelters, and children’s charities.

All Legion members are volunteers, donating their time and efforts to the causes in which they strongly believe. An outstanding example of this is the commitment of many members to other organizations and charitable work; several held, and continue to hold, leadership positions in such efforts. The dedication of our members to the community keeps our Polish heritage and traditions alive, which is a very important duty because it preserves our ethnic community. Every late winter, the Legion members present the White and Red Ball with its elegance and lovely tradition; and until recently, organized the St. John’s Festival, Swietojanki, each June, close to the longest day of the year.

One of the greatest contributions the Legion has made, however, cannot be measured by dollars and is indeed seldom mentioned. By its ongoing tradition of philanthropic service, it has prepared numerous women for active participation in organizational and social activities. It gives us a great deal of satisfaction to see our new members, including our past debutantes, join in the activities of the Legion. Their enthusiasm and hard work assures us that the future of the Legion will be bright.

Our amazing founders quickly established fundraisers and the first Legion Ball in November 1939, all for Polish War Relief; giving the title of White and Red Ball, Bal Amarantowy, for the February 1940 Ball during the Carnival Season. A historic dimension was added in 1945 by incorporating the Presentation of Debutantes - the first “en masse” presentation ever held in the United States.

Our beautiful Past Debutantes now number 605 women in this lovely and elegant tradition. The White and Red Ball would not be possible without the continued dedication of generations of Legion members, and the generous help of its Debutantes, their families, friends, and the business community.

The organization that Helen Lenard Piekło and her friends founded on that joyless, yet noble September day in 1939, has since attained a magnificent record of service and sacrifice, and is poised and ready to continue its important and charitable work well into the future. In turn, the Legion of Young Polish Women is forever grateful to all those who made eighty-five years of uninterrupted philanthropy possible. Bóg Zapłać!