Even as fighting, uncertainty, and despair continue to rage, JDC continues to uphold its mission, bringing relief to the vulnerable. This summer will be no exception for Ukrainian children and families. The JDC continues its tradition of providing Jewish summer programs even under the clouds of war.

Children and teens across the former Soviet Union and Europe look forward to JDC’s summer programs all year. This summer we are working extra hard to bring this taste of normalcy to the children and teens of Ukraine, whose lives have been upended by the war.

Across Europe, communities are opening their summer camps to Ukrainian refugees. In Estonia, refugee children even joined the community’s April spring camp, held a mere two months after the war began. Estonia’s summer day camp staff includes a Jewish Sunday School teacher, herself a refugee from Ukraine.   

In Poland, the community’s annual family camp will feature a tri-lingual program – in Polish, Russian, and English – to better facilitate communication between refugees and Polish-speaking campers. Poland will also host a day camp for some 60 Ukrainian children, ages 7-17. Camp will combine fun with academic classes in Polish, English and math to prepare campers for the Polish school system they will be entering in September.

In Ukraine itself, JDC plans on hosting three Family Retreats in quieter areas of the country. We are also organizing summer activities for some 400 Jewish children and teens through our Active Jewish Teens initiative. Lastly, over 100 members of the Odessa community will be traveling to Romania, which is hosting Odessa’s JCC Migdal annual Family Retreat.  

Over 800 Ukrainian Jews to take part in 20+ JDC summer activities in Ukraine and Europe

Thank you for bringing much-needed summer joy to Ukraine’s Jewish children, teens, and families.