Ukraine war marks third anniversary

A letter to our community: 

On Feb. 24, 2025, we marked a bitter anniversary: Three years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since WWII.  

Ukraine has endured without wavering and so has JUF's support for Ukraine's Jewish community.   

That's thanks to our extraordinarily generous Chicago Jewish community, which contributed $9.5 million to JUF's Ukraine Relief Fund--resources that were amplified with another $1.5 million from the Annual Campaign and other sources, for a total of $11 million put to work to date: 

• Providing round-the-clock relief to 100,000 people caught in the crossfire during the first months of the war--and continuing to support 40,000 vulnerable poor and elderly Jews who remain in Ukraine with meals, heating fuel, emergency financial aid, and other essentials. 

• Evacuating 80,000 people from danger zones to neighboring countries at the war's onset--and continuing to sustain 47,000 refugees in Europe with services from food and shelter to medical care and trauma counseling. 

• Expediting aliyah for 92,000 immigrating to Israel from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia--and continuing to provide them a wide range of services when they arrive to help them begin new lives: food, housing, job placement, Hebrew classes, and more.   

• Serving 160,000 people with medical and mental health care--and training 4,000 medical and mental healthcare workers who continue serving people in need on the ground.  

• Assisting 180,000 to find refuge in the United States, including 4,200 arriving in Chicago, who are being provided essential services, including ESL and employment assistance.  

• Bolstering security at Jewish institutions throughout Ukraine, including JCCs in six major cities.  

This kind of emergency response is part of our DNA--and JUF is staying in constant contact with our partners on the ground  to keep abreast of the latest developments and local needs. We will keep you posted. 

We are grateful to Jewish Chicago for your support of JUF's Ukraine Relief Fund--and for your continuing, generous support of the JUF Annual Campaign, which ensures that this infrastructure is in place to care for Jews in need in Ukraine and in Jewish communities around the world.  

We are--truly--together for good. 

Wendy C. Abrams, Board Chair 2025

Josh Herz, Annual Campaign Chair

Lonnie Nasatir, President