What We Do
- Our main project is Adopt a Bubbe (or Zayde), which provides humanitarian aid for pensioners and the handicapped in Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union.
- We support “Warm Houses” where about a dozen pensioners can meet regularly in a neighborhood apartment to talk, sing and celebrate Jewish holidays and birthdays. Our funds provide a hot meal for these gatherings because our clients can no longer afford to feed their guests. We receive thank-you notes and letters from many “Warm House” gatherings, which tell us just how important this is for elderly Jews who often live alone.
- We provide opportunities for pen-pals…
- Some of our Bar and Bat Mitzvah students collect items for Jewish Day School students in Ukraine and Belarus, like shoes (in very good condition), warm sweaters, coats, scarves, gloves and mittens, and school supplies, such as paper, markers, books in English, etc. This is a wonderful way to involve friends and guests who celebrate with you to participate in this mitzvah. The items are sent to our office for re-packing and shipment to the Jewish Day Schools. We let the school know that they came from your Mitzvah!
- We distribute Jewish cultural materials to many Jewish communities, such as the Megilat Esther in Russian and Hebrew, Haggadot in Russian and Hebrew and books on Jewish topics printed in Russian.
- We ship boxes of clothing (especially warm coats and sweaters) and medicine throughout the year to many Jewish communities in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. We rely on donations of clothing and shoes in good condition and also on donations of medicine from physicians, usually samples. We also purchase vitamins for our many clients. The Jewish Day Schools tell us that they need shoes for their students because new shoes are very expensive. Of course all these items are usually available in the former Soviet Union, but our clients cannot afford them.
- We have an active Medical Program. We ship badly needed medicines with instructions in Russian to physicians who work with our Adopt-a-Bubbe program in Ukraine. We also have a committee of physicians here who monitor what we send. A number of physicians donate medicine – mostly samples – which we re-pack and ship to our contacts. We also purchase some medicine and vitamins in large quantities.
- We also support free synagogue medical clinics in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkov, Ukraine, with medicine and funds
- We collect and disseminate information on antisemitism in the Former Soviet Union. Our files have been used by immigration lawyers in the U.S. working on asylum cases.
- We are in touch with our legislators in Washington, D.C. on topics affecting Jews in the former Soviet Union and émigrés in the U.S.
- We publish a newsletter, "Post-Soviet Jewry Report," several times a year.
- We provide opportunities for pen-pals - both for Bar and Bat Mitzvah age youngsters and for those who would like to correspond with the pensioners we serve.
- Publish Trip reports
