By Ryan Makuch
Serving on the ground of the communities that we love and serve has always been part of the AFC Ann Arbor club ethos. Co-owner Mike Lorenc has decided to continue in the long-running AFCAA tradition and make a massive jump across the ocean to spend a month back in his native Poland to assist in the effort of resettling Ukrainian refugees in Poland or elsewhere.
Lorenc’s history with Poland has remained strong even following his move to the U.S. as an exchange student in 1992. Lorenc would note that before the COVID pandemic he’d been back to Poland each of the prior 12 years. This will be his first trip back, and it comes under spectacular circumstances as the Polish nation and people deal with the threat of further Russian aggression, as well as the influx of refugees that need a space to live, free from the immediate threat of war.
The answer to the question of ‘why go?’ is one that was fairly obvious for Lorenc. Born in Lublin, Poland, just about 60 miles away from the Ukrainian border, Lorenc has witnessed much of recent Polish history while living within Poland. A member of the Orange Alternative movement in Poland as a youth, Lorenc would witness the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union while living within it. “What’s happening in Russia and the Ukraine right now is near and dear to my heart,” Lorenc would say. “I felt almost obligated to not just hate-tweet and do things online but actually do something in person.”
Long-running roots to Poland make Lorenc proud to share in his homeland with his sons. When discussing about the positives of his return and the trips he’s taken in the past, Lorenc noted how he likes to return primarily for personal and business reasons. On the personal level, Lorenc expressed how he enjoyed sharing in places and foods and new cultural experiences with his sons, and allowing them the opportunity to see where and how he grew up.
On a professional level, Lorenc is deeply tied to Google Poland, having been employee number one there 17 years ago, and spending another two years in the area growing and expanding Google’s footprint in Central and Eastern Europe. Also a travel junkie, Lorenc noted how he enjoys seeing Warsaw booming and turning into a European metropolis, while also following the socio-economic and political waves that happen in the country.
Lorenc’s plan in Poland starts with providing incoming refugees with the essentials and necessities. Lorenc plans to assist in providing hot meals, water, free transportation, and clothes, among other things. The GoFundMe started by Lorenc offers those who wish to contribute monetarily the opportunity to support.
Even in gravely serious conditions and times, though, Lorenc looks forward to spreading the beautiful game in hopes to spark some joy among the young refugees – in Lorenc’s words, he hopes that the soccer equipment that he plans to distribute will “get their mind away from the tragedy of war”. Lorenc is bringing with him to Poland about a dozen soccer balls to begin with, and an additional 250 soccer balls (along with other equipment) have been secured for more broad distribution amongst refugee camps around Poland.
In discussing the decision to do something in-person, Lorenc noted how inspired by AFC Ann Arbor’s in-person initiatives. “With COVID over the past two years, we have really accelerated our community outreach,” said Lorenc, discussing the club’s impact. “And a lot of what we’ve done has been in person. So being, quite frankly, inspired by Bilal [Saeed], Boyzzz [Khumalo], Emily [Eitzman], Justin [Harper], and people around the organization who have taken time to go create camps and help everywhere.”
Lorenc feels that AFC Ann Arbor being an organization that deals in the live entertainment world makes it inherently an ‘in-person’ organization. “We have live games and we bring the community to our live events; the purpose of our club is already in-person,” he would note. Acknowledging how Community Kicks really helped push the club’s already progressive thought process into motion, Lorenc praised the club’s initiatives for promoting sport, health, and positive nutritional habits, and encouraging the young participants to be part of their greater community at large.
“Coming to the U.S. and joining AFC, the impetus was to try and promote soccer in the U.S., and very quickly we kind of pivoting from, yes, doing that, but also soccer as a platform to do good,” said Lorenc, discussing the purpose of AFC Ann Arbor. Calling the tackling of a diverse array of social issues a “core belief” of the club, Lorenc would say that in its own way, that provides the club with a purpose. Noting how Poland and Ukraine hosted the 2012 European Championships, Lorenc believes in the unifying nature of the sport. He notes the diversity of the players, staff, and fans of The Mighty Oak, saying, “We’ve always had a heavy dose of international players, [and w]e have lots of fans that are first or second-generation with roots overseas, and soccer united all of them.”
Perhaps no sentence better sums up the desires of the club, and that of the individuals within the club, than Lorenc’s astute point: “We don’t just want to be a soccer club. We take pride in being a good neighbor.” Whether that’s in the States or abroad, in our homeland or our adopted home, and on a macro or micro scale, AFCAA and those that make up the club remain active and willing to help, no matter where, and no matter when.
If you desire to help Mike Lorenc’s fundraiser, his GoFundMe link can be found here. Nearly $30,000 has been raised as of time of writing, and Lorenc will be matching $20,000 of this with his own money. Materials will be purchased on the ground, in Poland, and Lorenc will be working with cities and refugee camps to ensure that 100% of proceeds help refugees fleeing from Ukraine.