JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL
AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE
PURELY COMMENTARY
update
Federation’s Ukraine Crisis Fund
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t is in times of crisis that the strength and resilience of our local and international Jewish community is most evident. This remarkable community has raised over $3 million to provide urgent support to the Jewish population of Ukraine. Roughly half of those funds have been allocated through the Jewish Federation’s Ukraine Emergency Campaign to our international partners on Matthew B. the ground: American Joint Lester Distribution Committee (JDC), The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and World ORT. The other half of the funding has been made directly to those relief organizations by a variety of local Jewish foundations and Dennis S. funders. Once again, we want to Bernard express our deepest gratitude to everyone who has participated in this effort. Tragically, the crisis continues to deepen. As we watch events unfold in Ukraine, we continue to pray for the safety and Steven well-being of our Jewish family, Ingber as well as the entire civilian population. Your support makes a difference. Below you’ll find information on how our partner agencies have been providing critical humanitarian aid during this crisis. JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL (JAFI) • The Jewish Agency for Israel has received
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some 6,000 requests to immigrate to Israel in recent days and believes that up to 15,000 Ukrainian immigrants could arrive in Israel in the near future, in what would only be the first wave of refugees headed to the Jewish state. Seven hundred Jews have so far arrived at aliyah (immigration to Israel) processing centers including 100 Jewish orphans. • The Agency is now operating both within Ukraine and within Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary — all neighboring countries — at five different crossings and have secured over 5,000 beds in transit facilities. The Agency reports that they are seeing a significant increase in the number of people seeking to reach the border and they are helping families and refugees escape through various and complex rescue/transportation channels. • 150 community organizations across Ukraine identified by the Jewish Agency’s Security Assistance Fund will receive immediate assistance for protection. This budget will be used to implement security measures at Jewish organizations and institutions across the country. AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE (JDC) • In more than 1,000 locations across Ukraine, JDC provides a lifeline for an estimated 40,000 Jewish elderly and 2,500 poor Jewish children and their families through its network of services, Jewish community programs and Jewish leaders. • In total, JDC has helped shelter approximately 1,500 Jewish refugees, and given other support to some 3,000-4,000 Jews, plus thou-
sands more non-Jewish refugees. The assistance includes transit advice, food and more. • JDC has also evacuated more than 3,000 Jews together with Chabad, local Jewish communities in Ukraine, the Jewish Agency, and the Jewish communities of Romania, Poland, Moldova and Hungary. WORLD ORT • World ORT supports seven schools in Ukraine: in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Belaya Tzerkov, Odessa and Zaporozhe, and two in Kyiv. These schools educate more than 3,000 full-time students. • ORT also runs KesherNet centers, which support unemployed women with job training, as well as an education center in Kyiv and a technology center in Dnipro. As a result of the war, all ORT schools in Ukraine are currently closed and mobility is limited. • As a result of 25 years of building schools and training centers in Ukraine, there are today more than 8,000 people who rely on ORT as part of their daily lives. Since the start of the conflict, these lives have, of course, been upended by rockets, sirens and violence. • The ORT School in neighboring Moldova is preparing to eventually accept ORT Ukraine refugees at their school and is helping with accommodations and essentials. Donate to the Ukraine Emergency Campaign at jewishdetroit.org/ukraine. Thank you for your support, and for all you have done for our local and international Jewish community. Matthew B. Lester is president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Dennis S. Bernard is president of the United Jewish Foundation and Steven Ingber is CEO of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
