Polish Falcons of America

Our Mission,
Vision & Values

Mission:

Polish Falcons of America is a Member-driven, not-for-profit that gives back to Member communities, while providing an opportunity to improve overall well-being through financial services, social connectivity, events and programs, and benefits to support Member needs.

Vision:

PFA aspires to be a financial, social and charitable pillar of society, both locally and nationally, helping Members to live healthy and meaningful lives and improve their communities.

Values:

Family – Providing opportunities for families to participate together in social events and offering financial products and
unique benefits to protect Members and their loved ones.

Polish Culture – Embracing and celebrating the culture and traditions of Poland, as well as sharing the organization’s rich history.

Inclusivity – Welcoming everyone as Members who support the ideals of the Polish Falcons.

Social Connection – Encouraging Members to engage within their local Nests (chapters) and communities, and nationally at events throughout the organization.

Education – Helping young people achieve their academic dreams by offering various scholarship programs.

Physical Health – Promoting the ideals of a healthy lifestyle through a variety of activities and programs for all ages.

Charity – Inspiring Members to host charitable events and fundraisers in their communities and providing funds to support their efforts.

Our Story

The very first Falcons group was established in 1887 as a youth-focused gymnastic society on Chicago’s North Side. Its creation came with the blessings of the leaders of the fledging Polish immigrant community of the day.

In 1894, several Chicago-based Falcons’ groups, or “Nests,” came together as the Polish Falcons Alliance and with a mission having national scope. After 1905, the Polish Falcons Alliance entered into a new arrangement with the large Polish National Alliance fraternal, whose leaders envisioned the Falcons as a sort of youth-oriented adjunct operating within and supported by the PNA, but at the same time retaining the organization’s powerful patriotic thrust.

In 1912, the merger with the PNA was terminated and the Falcons Alliance was re-established as a reunified and fully independent organization with its National Headquarters moved from Chicago to Pittsburgh, Pa.

The patriotism of the Falcons had committed its Members to support Poland’s recovery of its national independence after six generations of foreign rule going back to 1795.

In 1917, Ignacy Paderewski spoke at the Falcons National Convention held on Pittsburgh’s South Side, calling for the creation of a “Kosciuszko’s Army” to fight for Poland’s liberation as the U.S. entered into World War I.

Poland’s independence was indeed proclaimed on November 11, 1918, on what turned out to be the very last day of World War I. And with the active involvement of countless thousands of Polish Americans, many of them Members of the Falcons who had enlisted in an extraordinary Polish Army from America, Poland’s independence was indeed fully realized by 1921. Beginning in the 1920s, the Falcons made a series of significant moves aimed at preserving the spirit of the organization for the future. New sports and youth programs were initiated. In 1928, Polish Falcons of America was established as a fraternal benefit society.

At the same time, the Falcons remained firmly committed to their traditional youth and sports programs and in support of close ties with the newly independent Poland. When World War II broke out following the Nazi German and Soviet Russian invasion and occupation of the old homeland, the Polish Falcons of America was in the forefront in doing all that could be done on behalf of its suffering people. In 1944, the PFA took part in the creation of the Polish American Congress.

In the decades after, PFA remained true to the idea of a free Poland. It staunchly supported the Solidarity movement that was born in the shipyards of Gdansk in August 1980 and did its part in helping Polonia in its many activities to end communist domination of the country and provide material aid to its people. In its first century, the PFA continually updated and professionalized its fraternal insurance offerings and enhanced its youth and Member activities programs. During that time, it was headed by leaders who shared a common vision, most notably Casimir Zychlinski, its first National President (1894-1899), Dr. Teofil Starzynski, President of the PFA (with a brief six year break) from 1912 until his death in 1952, Walter Laska, President from 1952 to 1980, and Bernard Rogalski, President from 1980 to his retirement in 1988.

Indeed, as this work shows, the mission of the PFA has continued to be carried out by those who succeeded Rogalski and his fellow officers, Lawrence Wujcikowski (President from 1988 to 1996), Wallace Zielinski (President from 1996 to 2008), Timothy Kuzma, its current President and Chief Executive Officer, and the men and women with whom they served in leading the PFA.

Yes, the PFA had gone through some highly turbulent times in its first hundred years, two World Wars, the long and always threatening Cold War, and the Great Depression. Yet it never departed from the spirit of its founding mission and the words of its historic motto, Within a Healthy Body Resides a Healthy Spirit (W Zdrowym Ciele, Zdrowy Duch).