Check and Help
The cynical exploitation by one Michał S. of many people's goodness in fundraising for the treatment of non-existent Antoś shook me, as it probably did many of you.
On the fundraiser organizer's profile, hundreds of outraged people don't leave a single thread unturned. They're irritated by the media game he continues to play – he published a statement about returning money to Anna and Robert Lewandowski. They're annoyed by his calculation and exploitation of the sports couple, basking in their popularity even now.
I'm glad that the procedures of the Siepomaga.pl portal worked and equally glad that social power (over 8,000 shares of Siepomaga.pl's appeal asking for help in establishing the facts) worked. I think with respect about the balanced and responsible posts on the Siepomaga Foundation's FB, where they say clearly: "Yes – we need to help “but also "Yes - we need to check”. It's good that the prosecutor's office initiated an investigation ex officio and very quickly charged the fraudster with defrauding over half a million zloty and applied to the court for temporary arrest.
I'm very glad that many people publicly said: I will continue to help, even though I was deceived, I will check - and I will help. Helping is important, trust is important, this is what our social capital needs. At the same time, it's very difficult, because it's hard to make someone in need understand that you have doubts.
Those who know us know that we like to help. Both at Jet Line and at the Discovery Voyage Foundation, we have procedures and regulations, and yet we sometimes feel both frustration and pure anger.
The fraudster with the invented illness of Antoś triggered these feelings in me again.
He reminded me of "I Love. I Don't Hit," a big media campaign from a few years ago. My involvement in it at the time resulted in ongoing court proceedings to this day and the awkwardness I always feel when including a control element.
Let's check and help.