PROVIDENCE – When Russian forces first invaded Ukraine in late February, many members of the local Jewish community, including Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island CEO and President Adam Greenman, began feeling the need to do something to support Ukraine and its people who are now in dire need of help.
Greenman told Providence Business News on Tuesday that many Jewish residents in Rhode Island have Ukrainian ancestry and heritage. Ukraine, before the war, had approximately 200,000 Jewish citizens, making it one of the world’s largest Jewish communities, Greenman said.
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“It’s a place that lots of Jewish folks from Rhode Island had visited and feel a connection to,” Greenman said. “It just felt like we all wanted to do something.”
In response, the local community opened up their wallets and gave what they could to support Ukrainians who have either fled their homeland for safety or are still in the country living day by day in a war that has claimed more than 1,000 Ukrainian civilians. The Jewish Alliance announced Tuesday that over the last month, the Jewish community has raised close to $250,000. Those funds, the alliance said, will be sent oversees to partners on the frontlines, such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee working in eastern Europe supporting Ukrainians in need.
Greenman said the local Jewish community has a “long history” of giving aid to those in crisis and is part of the community’s values. Greenman said that before the invasion, community members were reaching out to the alliance to find out what role it would play in helping those in eastern Europe.
“It seemed pretty natural that this [fundraising effort] was one that we could play,” Greenman said.
Greenman said the fundraising campaign began about two days after Russian forces marched into Ukraine. The donations the alliance received was all from community individuals, Greenman said.
Additionally, the campaign was aided by a $50,000 matching gift personally from Darrell Ross and the Ross family, who owns local jewelry retailer Ross-Simons. In a statement, Ross said the Ukraine invasion is a “urgent humanitarian crisis” and that his family “feels a strong sense of obligation to step forward and inspire others to give.”
Greenman said the money will be used by humanitarian organizations in eastern Europe to purchase various supplies, such as food, medications, clothing, daily hygiene supplies, educational supplies for children and also provide housing, for Ukrainians in need both within Ukraine and within bordering countries. Greenman also said the alliance has a partnership with the Jewish Community Center in Warsaw, Poland, that shifted its work from being a community center to aiding refugees.
“It’s working with those organizations making sure they have the resources to take on those extra responsibilities and supporting those families so that they have what they need,” he said. “It’s really trying to address all the basic needs.”
The funds will also help humanitarian organizations provide security to make sure that Jewish institutions, such as synagogues and schools, are preserved and safe, Greenman said.
Moving forward, Greenman said the alliance’s campaign will remain open while the crisis in Ukraine continues and continue to seek donations to support the efforts. He also said the alliance will “stand ready” to work with organizations to provide support to Ukrainian refugees if they come to Rhode Island.
“Welcoming a stranger is a really core concept of our Jewish values, so that will be part of it as well,” Greenman said.
Donations to help with the alliance’s cause can be made either through the alliance’s website or checks can be mailed to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, R.I. 02906, with the memo line reading “Ukraine Relief.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
