The Council also has a class of individual members, which together with subscribers to its quarterly publication, the Polish Heritage, now total nearly 250 in number. Additionally, the ACPC enjoys the support of 13 major Polish-American cultural organizations. These supporting organizations do not participate in the constitutional proceedings of the Council but are prominent, esteemed cultural organizations which share in the goals of the Council while serving as part of the ACPC's network in an associate status and contributing financially. Children and grandchildren of every member are eligible to compete in the Council's several scholarship programs.
Incorporated in the State of Illinois as a non-profit corporation, the Council holds tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational entity. For several consecutive years, the ACPC has been officially recognized as a national charitable agency for participation in the Combined Federal Campaign -- United Way and, thereby, benefiting from contributions by federal service employees (including military servicemen and servicewomen), with the designated number 2902.
The Council meets in annual convention at sites around the country usually sponsored by its affiliate organizations. In 1991, after the fall of communism, the Council held its first Council-sponsored convention in Poland and in 2002 convened in Krakow, Poland. Another Council-sponsored convention outside the US was held in 1997 in Toronto, Canada. The most recent Convention was sponsored in 2003 by the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota in association with the Polanie Club of Minneapolis & St. Paul. The members of the Polish American Cultural Network are looking forward to sponsoring the upcoming convention in Anaheim, CA. Dates for this convention are set for Aug. 17-22, 2004.
The ACPC Board is comprised of five elected officers and 12 elected national Directors, as well as representatives from each of the Council's affiliates, past ACPC presidents, appointed and standing committee members. The Board meets twice each year outside of the context of the Annual Convention -- once in the Spring and again in the Fall at sites hosted by affiliate and supporting organizations.
The Polish Heritage, a quarterly review on cultural subjects of interest to the Polish-American community as well as reports on the current activities of the ACPC and its affiliate organizations, is published by the Council. This publication is distributed not only to members of the Council and its affiliated organizations, but also to its supporting organizations, universities, libraries and cultural organizations and embassies abroad. Some affiliated organizations follow a policy of mailing copies of the Polish Heritage to universities and colleges in their vicinities.
The Council sponsors a college student from its affiliate/supporting organizations each summer to study at a university in Poland with a grant of $1,500. It provides a $2,000 award for operatic voice achievement to non-professional Polish-American artists in the name of Marcella Kochanska Sembrich, and the winner is presented in concert at the Annual ACPC Convention. The ACPC also maintains an annual Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski Scholarships program through an Endowment Fund that was established by the Conrad R. Walas Family Trust. Five $5,000 awards are offered to Polish-American students in advanced studies at universities in the US. Additionally, the Council administers the annual $1,000 Skalny Scholarships for Polish Studies in Memory of Louis and Nellie Skalny at universities in the US. These latter scholarships are funded by the Louis Skalny Foundation.
Some affiliated and supporting organizations of the Council are associated with universities and colleges in their local communities. Among the most developed relationships was the strong support in the establishment of a permanent Polish Studies Chair at Central Connecticut State University by the Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford. Likewise, the American Institute of Polish Culture in Miami, FL. successfully led a drive to establish a permanent Polish Studies Chair at the University of Florida. The Polish Heritage Society of Rochester, NY. plays a prominent role in the programs at the Eastern European Studies Center established at the University of Rochester by the Louis Skalny Foundation. The Friends of Polish Art of Detroit MI. has been involved for years with the annual Youth and Kubienski Art Competitions held at the Galeria (Art Museum), which is located on the campus of the Orchard Lake Schools.
The affiliated organizations of the Council create a natural, nation-wide network of organizations committed to furthering the cause of Polish language, art, history, and cultural involvement and awareness. The organizations frequently cooperate in sponsoring tours for lecturers, authors and visiting dignitaries from Poland. They also conduct extensive sales campaigns for books of relevant topics. Recent emphasis on the part of the Council and its affiliates has been in the area of winning the support and cooperation of youth groups, particularly Polish-American student organizations on university/college campuses. A prominent key activity has been the sponsorship of an annual weeklong Youth Leadership Conference (YLC) in Washington, DC. This is subsidized in large measure through an endowment fund and Polonia contributions. In 2004, the YLC will hold its 10th Annual Youth Leadership Conference. The program has won high praise from the student participants as well as Polonian leaders and organizations in the US.