By BERNIE BELLAN The Jewish Federation has been accepting donations on behalf of Ukrainian Jews. As of Friday, March 18, the Federation had received $150,000 in donations toward relief for Ukrainian Jews. We had contacted Rebecca Brask, Chief Development Officer for the Federation on March 11 to obtain an update on how much had been raised to that point
Here is what Rebecca wrote back on Friday, March 11:
“Our community has raised an incredible $128,864 from 345 donors. Our partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) are doing critical, complementary, and coordinated work which leverages funds raised through our Combined Jewish Appeal (CJA) Campaign and our Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund to help the estimated 200,000 Jewish people of Ukraine. All of the Canadian funds raised are being sent directly to these two agencies through the Jewish Federations of Canada.
“The JDC is the leading global Jewish humanitarian organization, working in 70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities. JDC is the lifeline for vulnerable Jewish elderly and children across Ukraine. Their priority is to provide safety and continued humanitarian assistance for Jews in need throughout this crisis. JDC is reporting spiking humanitarian needs among the nearly 40,000 low-income Jews it supports in 1,000 locations around Ukraine. JDC is delivering critical assistance – getting food and medicine to those in need, activating a local volunteer corps, and leveraging its network of Hesed social service centers to address emerging needs as events unfold.
“JAFI’s emergency response team is focusing on securing safe facilities for displaced Jews; sustaining displaced Jews with basic necessities (food, medicine); providing financial assistance; staffing emergency hotlines; supporting Jewish community organizations; creating an SOS fund for extraordinary individual needs and preparations.
“Ukraine Under Fire: Six processing stations on the Ukrainian border with Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary, are already up and running to support the Ukrainian Jews who wish to make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel. This past Sunday, the first flights of Ukrainian refugees were welcomed at Ben Gurion airport, in Israel and on Thursday night 257 olim (Jewish immigrants) arrived in Israel on flights departing from Poland and Romania.
“To donate please visit: https://www.jewishwinnipeg.org/ukrainian-emergency-relief-fund .To donate with payment methods other than credit card, please call 204.477.7428. If you wish to pay by cheque, please make all cheques payable to the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. Memo: Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund.”
