NEW YORK, February 12, 2025—In advance of the third anniversary of the conflict in Ukraine, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is urging the public to support essential humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, including its life-saving aid and services for tens of thousands of the most vulnerable Jews impacted by ongoing devastation, rolling blackouts, frigid temperatures, and skyrocketing inflation and unemployment. The worsening situation for the neediest Jews of Ukraine – including poor elderly and families, the displaced, and the new poor – requires greater support to help them survive and ensure they have a future when the conflict ceases, notes the global Jewish humanitarian organization.

“We are almost three years into this heart-rending conflict and the situation is only worsening for needy Jews and Jewish communities plunged into greater vulnerability. We cannot permit our fatigue with global emergencies to hold up efforts to address these needs and ensure these poor, displaced, and suffering Jews have the support they need,” said JDC CEO Ariel Zwang. “We must bolster the resiliency of Ukraine’s vulnerable Jews and Jewish communities now so that when the devastation ends – and we pray that happens soon – we can focus on the substantial task of rehabilitating Jewish lives and rebuilding Jewish life for a better tomorrow.”

Without interruption, JDC continues to provide essential food and medicine, housing assistance, homecare for the elderly, trauma support, online and in-person educational opportunities, and financial and employment assistance to more than 38,400 of the neediest Jews around Ukraine. Additionally, JDC is supporting 9,000+ Jewish refugees with ongoing assistance through local Jewish communities in Europe.

JDC continues to strengthen the Jewish community through robust educational and cultural programming, volunteer systems, and teen and young adult leadership development. This work is carried out by JDC’s network of Hesed social service centers, Jewish community centers, and thousands of staff and volunteers who continue to aid the most vulnerable at great risk to themselves. In 2024 alone, nearly 3,000 local Jewish volunteers from JDC’s Volunteer Centers aided more than 37,000 of their fellow community members and neighbors with a variety of emergency and ongoing needs.

Among the most urgent and essential needs that JDC is currently addressing are winter relief and trauma support:

  • JDC’s crisis response work includes delivering life-saving winter aid consisting of heating and winter supplies to nearly 19,000 needy Jewish community members in Ukraine as they struggle to withstand electricity cuts, high fuel costs, and increasing inflation in the midst of the coldest months. In addition, 20 JDC Warm Hubs are operating across Ukraine in JCCs and Hesed social service centers, offering shelter with heat, electricity, and charging stations, hot drinks, and community. This effort, and JDC’s wider Ukraine conflict response, is made possible by generous support provided by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and local Jewish Federations, the Claims Conference, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, individuals, families, foundations and corporations.
  • JDC’s eight Trauma Support Centers around Ukraine are providing ongoing mental health services for those suffering increased stress and anxiety. The harsh, ongoing, and unpredictable nature of the conflict has resulted in a growing need for trauma counseling and therapy, especially severe among families that have been separated and the toll of loss and devastation on young people and elderly. To date, 3,700 people have been served by JDC’s Trauma Support Centers. Additionally, JDC has deployed other forms of mental health support to homebound elderly, poor families, Jewish professionals, and organizational staff since the conflict began.

The majority of Ukraine’s vibrant, pre-conflict 200,000-person Jewish community has remained in the country throughout the crisis, with many returning after fleeing to neighboring countries. JDC, which has worked in Ukraine and across the former Soviet Union since the 1990s, cares for tens of thousands of needy Jews, builds Jewish community life, and trains new generations of Jewish leaders.JDC’s three-year aid snapshot-to-date includes:

  • Assisted 55,500+ vulnerable Jews in Ukraine since the start of the crisis, including ongoing emergency aid, like food, medicine, homecare, and evacuation services.
  • Provided 40,000+ refugees with vital necessities such as food, medicine, and psychosocial aid as they crossed from Ukraine into Romania, Moldova, Poland, and Hungary.
  • Helping 6,200+ internally-displaced persons (IDPs) by providing life-saving assistance from JDC and local Jewish communities in Ukraine.
  • Delivering and distributing 800+ tons of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, soap, and other crucial supplies.
  • Fielded 67,600+ calls made to hotlines and call centers.
  • Evacuated 13,000+ people inside Ukraine and beyond as well as organizing special medical transport for elderly Jews.
  • 1,000 Ukrainian Jewish children and their family members participated in respite programs at Szarvas, the JDC-Lauder International Jewish Camp in Hungary.