We Are There on the Ground

Last week, Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of Jewish Federations of North America spoke after a “fly-in” to Poland to witness the sea of immigrants fleeing the violence in Ukraine.  In his comments he stated,

 “Communities do not wait until there is a fire to build a fire department and the Jewish people do not wait until there is an emergency to create an effective system of rescue and humanitarian aid.  The skill and expertise we have been witnessing in the relief efforts in Ukraine and in the boarding countries is the result of years of experience, training, relationship building and fundraising.”

In a nutshell, that is a part of why we are committed each year to raising the essential dollars through our Annual Community Campaign to benefit the Jewish community, the Savannah Jewish community, our Israel community, our worldwide Jewish community.

WE ARE THERE ON THE GROUND through our partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee;

WE ARE THERE ON THE GROUND in thanks to our partnership with ORT;

WE ARE THERE ON THE GROUND with our friends from the Jewish Agency for Israel.

WE ARE THERE ON THE GROUND

  • Helping people make Aliyah to Israel
  • Securing local communities and their institutions
  • Maintaining critical welfare services
  • Assisting internally displace people in multiple locations in multiple countries
  • Providing a 24 hour a day emergency hotline
  • Securing temporary housing for the tens of thousands of women and children in transit
  • Purchasing and distributing satellite phones to maintain communications across the war zone

Each and every story is painful to hear and to see, but one of them really resonated with me.  It was a video from a JDC client, Natalia Berezhnaya from Odessa who stated, “It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in 1941, I had to hide in the basement of this building and that I’m going to have to do that again, Now!”

It is for the Natalias in Odessa huddled in a basement, the Tatyanas who are working with refugees to secure safe passage through Moldova on the way to Romania, the Zinaidas who have survived war, hunger, and evacuation that we are raising money for Ukrainian Relief.

Thus far our community has raised over $80,000 that has already been immediately transmitted to the folks on the ground who are our partners in rescue and relief AND it’s not just yesterday and today.  The needs continue to escalate with every horrible report.

While we are living in the greatest country in the world, there are others, just like us…really, just like us, who have literally escaped with the clothes on their backs.  If you haven’t made a gift to the Savannah Ukraine Relief Fund, we urge you to join the many who have already given…the needs increase each day.

Your dollars are making a real impact!

Shabbat Shalom

Make your most generous gift to the Savannah Ukraine Relief Fund.  100% of your gift is immediately transmitted to our partners on the ground in Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, and other border countries.