Unity with Ukraine

UNITY WITH UKRAINE

This is Bella. In 1941, at the age of seven, she had to flee Odessa with her mother and three-year-old brother. She remembers the fear, the bombs and leaving all of her possessions behind. At 87, she is reliving this nightmare. After a four-day drive to the border with no bathroom or food stops (there are none), her son dropped her off, alone and with only one half-empty suitcase, and returned to the Ukraine to rescue more family members. She was transported six hours to Warsaw where we met her at the Focus Hotel, just one of the many hotels that the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) have rented as temporary housing for refugees. Confined to a wheelchair, Bella is cared for by JAFI volunteers, receives three meals a day, clothing, and hygiene supplies. Bella will be making Aliyah (moving to Israel) before the month’s end.

This is Lilli, a surgeon and mother of two. She is from Harkov, the second largest city in Ukraine and home to 20,000 Jews. She and her daughters and two dogs spent the first days of the war in a shelter. They believed the attack would end in a day or two, but it didn’t. They stayed in the shelter despite having no electricity, no food and no heat. One day at 6:00 a.m., she heard a huge explosion and knew it must have been their home and made the decision to leave immediately. They took her small car packed with three people and two very large dogs and began their seven-day journey to the Rumanian border. Their travel was not easy, with stops every 20 km to show documents, resting at 14 different locations. They now have temporary room and board provided by JAFI. She and her daughters and dogs will be making Aliyah as soon as she can find crates large enough for her dogs to be transported by plane.

20

This is Janna. She is and has been the Executive Director of the JCC in Harkov for over 20 years. They had over 10,000 participants at the JCC and more than 500 in their early childhood programs. She waited 15 days before leaving because she couldn’t believe what was happening. Harkov has been cut off, as all bridges and roads have been destroyed. Most of whom are left are elderly and homebound. The three members of the JCC staff remaining in Harkov are working with the JDC to deliver food and medicine. She is now continuing programming at the hotel, as most of the refugees staying there are from Harkov. She and her staff are continuing to provide online programming and services as many of the participants are now spread across Europe. She is continuing to build community even though most are displaced, because she plans to return to her life, to her community and to reopen the JCC.

6

Our community responded with not only a quarter of a million dollars for the extraordinary campaign for Ukraine, but also with over ��� lbs of donated OTC medicine.

THE JOURNEY: 1. & 2. Supplies for Refugees from JFED. 3. Donations waiting at border crossing. 4. Border 5. Crossing the border. 6. First stop for refugees 7. Refugee orientation. 8. Daily schedule at JAFI hotel in Warsaw. 9. Trying to provide some normalcy for children.

As he loaded supplies, Ron Rettner, a very generous financial donor, said, "I just can't sit here and do nothing. Thank you (Federation) for giving me the opportunity to help."

1 2 3 4

5 7 89

21