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How the JDC is Operating in Ukraine to Assist Jews

The humanitarian organization provides food, homecare, medicine and other services to 37,000 poor elderly Jews there, including nearly 10,000 Holocaust survivors.
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February 24, 2022
A JDC volunteer delivering food packages and PPE to a needy Jewish woman in Kharkiv, Ukraine during the pandemic. Courtesy of Michael Geller.

As the entire world is focusing on the Russia-Ukraine situation, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is keeping one goal in mind: to continue to aid the Jewish population in Ukraine.

The humanitarian organization provides food, homecare, medicine and other services to 37,000 poor elderly Jews there, including nearly 10,000 Holocaust survivors, supports six major JCCs, manages METSUDA, a young adult leadership training program and has programs for Jewish teens and volunteers. There are 200,000 Jews total in Ukraine.

In recent days, the JDC has ramped up its efforts in case war breaks out. “We’re preparing for any number of scenarios,” said Michael Geller, director of media relations at the JDC. “People could need extra food, medicine or other essentials and psychosocial support. They may be displaced. We’re planning for a variety [of situations].”

The JDC has infrastructure set up to provide remote care via online platforms and offer food delivery if people can’t leave their home. They are mapping out where clients live and making sure that someone is close by in case of an emergency, as well as coordinating with other Jewish organizations, like Chabad, to ensure there’s a network of people to care for those in need.

“There’s been growing concern in the last few days,” said Geller. “I would imagine it’s going to continue. Up until a few days ago, it was really a mixed bag. Some people were concerned and others were not.”

According to Geller, the JDC has a lot of experience helping Jews in Ukraine in a crisis; they were there to assist during the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War, and they’ve been helping people throughout the pandemic.

“We are planning for any number of scenarios.” – Michael Geller

“Among the tens of thousands of Jews we serve, there is a significant number of them who have been hard hit by inflation and the rising costs of food, medicine and utilities as result of tensions [in the region],” he said. “COVID has really hurt the Ukrainian economy quite a bit.”

Many of the people the JDC assists are pensioners living on $2 to $3 a day who have to make a choice between getting food and medicine or turning on their heat during the winter. According to Geller, the cost of sugar has spiked up 61%, sunflower oil has gone up 57% and there is a 20 to 30% increase for utilities.

The political situation is causing prices to rise because “imports and exports aren’t running as well as they should,” said Geller. “Last year, even before the tension started, you had sunflower oil being restricted. Ukraine exports sunflower oil, and because they didn’t have a good crop year, prices went up.”

While the state of Israel urged its citizens to leave Ukraine immediately earlier in February, the JDC does not advise anyone to do anything. Instead, Geller said their role is “to take care of Jews [no matter] what decision they make. If they decide to stay, we take care of them. If they decide to leave, we coordinate as we need to.”

There may be some challenges in the days and weeks ahead, but so far, the JDC has been able to fulfill its mission in Ukraine.

“Our work continues uninterrupted,” said Geller. “And, we are planning for any number of scenarios to ensure we can continue to do so.”

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