Update from Ukraine: Meals on Wheels still desperately needed
At the onset of the corona crisis, we launched an emergency appeal for food aid for the poor Jewish elderly in Ukraine. Thanks to the support of many friends of the Jewish people, we have been able to deliver tens of thousands of meals in the past few weeks with our emergency appeal Meals on Wheels!
On behalf of the Jewish elderly: thank you! You can meet some of the thousand people we have helped below. Most of them normally eat at the soup kitchen and receive help from someone to take care of the house. At the moment, they can’t eat at the soup kitchen and domestic workers cannot come over any more due to the quarantine.
We deliver the meals on wheels in these places in Ukraine. You can see that they are spread over the whole country! In the lower-left corner you can see the size of Israel compared to Ukraine.
Moreover, the Ukrainian government has decided that everybody over sixty years of age has to stay at home and is not allowed to receive visitors. If there is nobody who can do their food shopping for them, they are allowed to go to the nearest supermarket, but only if it is located within a radius of two kilometres from their home (which is often not the case). Food prices have increased tremendously over the past weeks, but we can fortunately purchase products at favourable prices from the wholesaler. Exactly that means that food aid is of vital importance.
The soup kitchens dining halls will have to remain closed in the coming weeks. However the kitchens remain open for deliveries, and this means that our emergency campaign Meals on Wheels is still desperately needed. It costs 5 euros / 5 US dollars to prepare a meal and deliver it to a person’s home.
Will you help us (again)?
Some time ago, Chief Rabbi Jacobs of the Netherlands connected Koen with Rabbi Israel from Chernigov (100 km north of Kiev, 30 km from Chernobyl). This Jewish community now distributes hundreds of meals to the Jewish elderly and poor families as well, with your help. Check it out in the video!
Meet a few grateful and lovely people that you have helped below!
Maya Alekseyevna, born in 1930 in Vinnytsja. She evacuated to Kazakhstan during the Second World War. She now lives alone.
Gyzeev Wova, 80 years old, suffers from psychological problems. He lives alone.
Anna Ivanovna, 78 years old. She has lived alone since her husband passed away 15 years ago. Her son now lives in Israel. She has no family left in the Ukraine.
Aaron Jacovlevitsch, born in 1942 in the ghetto in Zhmerinka. Aaron has been on his own since his wife passed away last year.
In the first part of this video Ira Carlier explains about the situation in Ukraine.
