When Port Chalmers local Carol Meikle QSM heard that Cr Bezett would be taking a V. I. P Travel tour group through Eastern Europe, including Russia and Poland, she jumped at the opportunity.
"Family and friends in the Port Chalmers community have knitted beautiful wool garments for babies, and I had been looking for a way to get them to needy children in Poland," Mrs Meikle said.
A descendant of the first Polish settlers to arrive at Port Chalmers in 1872, Mrs Meikle is a member of the Dunedin Polish Society.
When society president Cecylia Klobukowska heard about the project, she added two children's books about the experiences of Polish refugee children in New Zealand after World War 2, and two special dolls.
The dolls were made by North Otago sisters Czesia Panek and Wiesia Scuur, who had come to New Zealand as child refugees.
In another Dunedin connection, the donated items will be distributed to orphan children by Catholic priest and former Dunedin man Matthew Devereux.
"It is wonderful to have made these connections - I'm sure it will be an ongoing relationship," Mrs Meikle said.
