As the war in Ukraine rages on into a fifth month, your support for the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund through JEWISHcolorado is part of the collective impact of Jewish Federations’ (JFNA) emergency allocations. JFNA has provided this update on how dollars are being used, including the more than $400,000 raised in Colorado. Distributions of funds can be divided into four main impact areas:

• Refugee Assistance/Humanitarian Relief and Resettlement
• Aliyah and the Welcoming of Refugees to Israel 
• Addressing Needs of Jews in in Other Countries of the Former Soviet Union Affected by the Conflict
• Rebuilding Jewish life in Ukraine 

Currently, funding focuses on the first two categories.  It is anticipated that the third category may become a developing need and that rebuilding Jewish life in Ukraine will be a focus of a later stage.

Jewish Federations were prepared to respond immediately and effectively to the crisis in Ukraine because the Federation and its partners were on the ground in Ukraine and surrounding countries before the crisis through the work of our core historic partners.   

For decades, Jewish Federations have supported the work of The Jewish Agency for Israel, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and World ORT in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to revitalize Jewish life, care for the elderly and disabled, and facilitate the Aliyah of those who chose to move to Israel.  

Each year, Jewish Federations invest over $100 million in core, unrestricted funding to The Jewish Agency, JDC, and World ORT.  These core funds ensure that these international organizations have the infrastructure to support flourishing Jewish communities wherever Jews live and to respond to whatever emergencies may come.

For more information about the impact of core funding, please see the 2021 Core Impact Reports for The Jewish Agency and JDC (with introductory video).

The Mishna teaches that “anyone who saves a life is as if he [or she] saved an entire world” (Sanhedrin 4:5).  The statistics below show the reach of The Jewish Agency, JDC, and World ORT in their Ukraine crisis response – with tens of thousands of people evacuated, housed, fed, and treated, as well as over twenty-five thousand brought to Israel on Aliyah.  

This critical work is done one person at a time.  Together, Jewish Federations are impacting tens of thousands of lives – with each person helped the equivalent of saving an entire world.