Ukraine’s vibrant Jewish community is one of the largest in the world, home to an estimated 200,000 Jews prior to the current Ukraine crisis. Since the collapse of communism, JDC has worked across the former Soviet Union (FSU) to save Jewish lives and build Jewish life. In Ukraine alone, JDC has been serving over 42,000 Jewish elderly and 2,500 poor Jewish children and their families through our network of care services, Jewish community programs, and Jewish leaders.
As the world prepares to commemorate one year since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) continues expanding its life-saving humanitarian relief efforts for tens of thousands of vulnerable Jews in Ukraine and Jewish refugees in Europe. This includes ever-widening aid to survive the winter months; material support such as food, medicine, housing and utility subsidies; integration support for refugees in European Jewish communities; and trauma support through six trauma centres around Ukraine.
“Although the crisis no longer carries every headline, the most vulnerable Ukrainian Jews –including the elderly, the new poor, the internally displaced, and refugees – are still living through this conflict every day, and we must redouble our efforts to ensure their ongoing care and community life now and for the future,” said JDC CEO Ariel Zwang. “We can take a pause and note all we have achieved – and acknowledge an endless debt of gratitude to our heroic staff and volunteers and to our stalwart partners and supporters – but our work continues. We urge the Jewish community and all people to join us in sharing stories of Ukrainian Jewish perseverance and hope to remind the public that more needs to be done to support this community.”
Right now, you can help us continue to be a lifeline for Ukraine’s most vulnerable Jews caught in the devastating throes of conflict.
Donate today.