Month: February 2023

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Federation remains closely attuned to updates from the region and deeply committed to meeting the critical needs of Ukraine’s more than 200,000 Jews.

Current and Future Needs in Ukraine

A year into the crisis, Jews from Ukraine need us more than ever. The country is in the midst of a bitter winter, and temperatures frequently drop below freezing. Escalating violence has damaged Ukraine’s electricity and heating infrastructure, leaving many without light or warmth. As a result, Ukraine’s Jewish community faces daunting winter-related challenges on top of economic decline.

To meet these urgent needs, Federation and our global partners are working around the clock to provide:

• Winter survival aid to 22,000+ individuals—wood, coal, canned and dehydrated food, utility subsidies, heaters, warm clothes, blankets, sub-zero sleeping bags, and electric bedding.
• Conversion of JDC Hesed social service centers and community centers into warming hubs equipped with generators.
• Expansion of JOINTECH—JDC’s remote care and online community program—providing technology-driven trauma support and critical services.
• Resettlement support for Jewish refugees in Europe, including food, medicine, housing, trauma care, scholarships, and workforce training.
• Healthcare support for non-Jewish populations in Ukraine and refugees, including hospital aid and telemedicine equipment.

Our Collective Impact

Thanks to your generosity, Federation’s Ukraine Emergency Fund and Federations across North America have raised $73 million to date. These funds are being leveraged to create matching grants to local Jewish Federations, helping social service organizations expand capacity for displaced Ukrainians in their communities.

In the first year of response, your support helped:

• Deliver lifesaving services—food, medicine, and homecare—to more than 43,000 Jews in Ukraine, including poor, elderly, and newly impoverished individuals.
• Distribute over 800 tons of humanitarian aid.
• Evacuate over 13,000 Jews from Ukraine, including 170 urgent medical evacuations.
• Provide winter survival aid to tens of thousands, including heating subsidies and fuel supplies.
• Support over 40,000 Ukrainian refugees at border crossings through food, shelter, medical assistance, and guidance.
• Answer more than 67,600 emergency calls via hotlines.
• Provide nonsectarian medical and psychosocial care to 20,000 Ukrainian refugees and supply hospitals with vital medical devices and training.

On the Ground: Gil Preuss Represents Greater Washington

In March 2022, Federation CEO Gil Preuss joined one of the first Jewish Federations of North America humanitarian missions to Poland and Ukraine’s border. He brought donated supplies, met volunteers and refugees—mostly women, children, and the elderly—and shared updates through Twitter and video messages.

Gratitude for Our Global Partners

We are grateful to our global partners—the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency for Israel, and World ORT—for their tireless work caring for those impacted by the crisis.

Thanks to you, we’re making a difference. And with your continued support, we will help Ukraine’s Jewish community survive, recover, and rebuild.