Genesis Philanthropy Group is delivering $10 million in emergency assistance to Jews impacted by the crisis in Ukraine.
The emergency aid package announced Monday will be distributed in two phases.
An immediate $5 million funding has been committed to supporting urgent needs related to the current crisis.
Jewish Agency for Israel will support evacuation efforts and enhance security for Jewish organisations. Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine will provide seed funding for a campaign to distribute 30,000 packages of non-perishable foodstuffs across Ukraine. Joint Distribution Committee is supporting work with vulnerable Jewish populations across Ukraine.
Regional and local Jewish community organisations are also operating homes for the elderly, orphanages and other critical communal infrastructure in Ukraine.
An additional $5 million will be deployed to support humanitarian aid needs as the situation develops.
“As we watch with great distress the scenes coming from Ukraine, we see it as our duty to help Jews in danger, as we have done in other times and places,” said Gennady Gazin, Chairman of the Board of Genesis Philanthropy Group. “As someone born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, I am especially pained by this suffering. I hope that peace will return and the Ukrainian Jewish community will be able to withstand these hardships and thrive again.”
“The current crisis in Ukraine has led to a dramatic increase in humanitarian needs,” added Mark Sisisky, President of the American JDC.
Sisisky noted that Genesis and its founders had a visionary commitment to strengthen Jewish communities in Ukraine and around the world.
“Our teams on the ground, part of our vast presence in Ukraine and around the former Soviet Union, will be able to do so much good with this generous support,” he continued. “We’re providing food, medicine and other emergency aid in Ukraine and also partnering with Jewish communities in surrounding countries to welcome Jews crossing the borders.”
“In these grave times, as we pray for peace and calm, we are witnessing yet again the power of Jewish unity in the spirit of Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh La-Zeh,” commented Rabbi Raphael Rutman of Ukraine’s Federation of Jewish Communities. “It is with this in mind that we are proud to join forces with GPG to bring food to those who are in desperate need today and will be in need tomorrow.”