YOUR GIFT will directly help Ukrainian refugees in Krakow.
when donating, please write “Ukraine” in the comment box or in the memo line of a check
JCC Krakow is a key provider of services, a strategic partner, and a convener, having directly helped and supported over 380,000 Ukrainians so far. We do not differentiate between Jews and non-Jews when providing support. Over 98% of Ukrainians who have received support from JCC Krakow are non-Jews. We have provided over $12,000,000 worth of direct support to Ukraine so far thanks to thousands of individual donors, families, foundations, synagogues and Jewish Federations.
1000 days after Russia’s full-scale invasion, JCC Krakow continues to support displaced Ukrainians with vital supplies and essential services. As the crisis enters its third year, we will continue this important work and remain a warm and welcoming community for those fleeing the conflict.
“We felt heard here. We were included as members of the JCC, and no longer felt just like refugees. JCC Krakow gave us a sense of being full-fledged residents of Poland and Krakow.”
Since February 24, 2022, JCC Krakow has distributed 530 tons of essential supplies, secured housing for hundreds of families, and offered cover 750 courses and sessions to promote physical and mental thriving, directly assisting over 370,000 displaced Ukrainians get back on their feet and start new lives in Poland with dignity and purpose. Despite being a small community focused organization, the scope of our efforts have led to international recognition as one of Poland’s leading Ukrainian aid providers.
Two-and-a-half years in, JCC Krakow continues to support displaced Ukrainians in need. Whether it is through our Free Shop that provides essential supplies for over 700 families weekly, or supporting 150 Ukrainians - mostly women, children, and elderly - in housing complexes across the region, JCC Krakow is providing important services that Ukrainians can consistently rely upon. We cannot give up on this invaluable mission.
As a Jewish organization, we recognize the intrinsic link between the wars being fought by Ukraine and Israel. Some Ukrainian and Israeli Jews are valiantly fighting on the frontlines in both nations and others come to Krakow desperately seeking help. It is up to us to demonstrate unequivocal support for the beleaguered, whether Ukrainian or Israeli, stand up against the common enemies in the Russian and Iranian Regimes, and show up for others, for their fight is ours.
That ongoing commitment inspires us to call upon our community and ask for your support. These vital services we provide require serious investment, and we can’t do it alone.
Donate today and continue to support our mission to help Ukrainian refugees in need.
when donating, please write “Ukraine” in the comment box or in the memo line of a check
“We’re providing support that our people never received 80 years ago—when too few were willing to stand up in the face of injustice and protect those marked for destruction.”
JCC Krakow Ukraine Response
Jonathan Ornstein, CEO, JCC Krakow
[email protected]
JCC Krakow’s Ukraine Response continues to evolve as the needs on the ground change while war wages on. While there is currently no telling when this war will end, we are working to ensure the continuance of our humanitarian operation that maintains the dignity of all those who are seeking help. The next chapter of this war may be uncertain, but we hope that you will choose to support our mission as long as it remains necessary. Below, you will find examples of our current and previous programs that were entirely supported by donations from our international community of supporters.
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Our JCC continues to function 5 days a week as a distribution point for food, medicine, hygienic supplies, toys, and clothing that we have received and purchased. The point serves over 700 families weekly, and so far we’ve distributed over 530 tons of necessary supplies in our building.
We are currently housing a total of 200+ Ukrainian refugees a night. We continue to house approximately 100 people in apartments in Krakow and the region, most of whom are vulnerable clients (people with medical needs, single parents with multiple children, the elderly). We have also created a temporary housing facility for mothers in a palace outside of Krakow and are housing 90 women and children there as we teach them Polish and help them enter the job market. Prior to the apartments, over 31,000 hotel room nights had been provided.
We are supporting a day care facility for 100 refugee children.
We renovated a center for pregnant women + new mothers serving 250 refugees.
We run a comprehensive psychological support program providing 40 hours a week of counseling.
We are supporting soldiers in the Odesa region and send them various supplies regularly.
We are cooperating with the Shapiro Foundation to provide scholarships covering full tuition for 169 Ukrainian students attending 6 Polish universities in Warsaw, Krakow, and Rzeszow.
We run an intensive art therapy program for mothers and children serving 1300 refugees so far.
We have hired 40 new staff members: 31 full time and 9 part time, including 28 Ukrainian refugees, to work on our Ukrainian humanitarian response.
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We have sent truckloads of supplies into Ukraine including the Zaporozhye region and together with a partner delivered 30 tons of food and supplies to isolated towns and villages close to the front line with Russia.
We ran a two month summer camp for 25 kids with language classes, self defense, photography, and computer classes.
We worked with the Polish government and the Catholic Church to resettle 4 Ukrainian orphanages in the north of Poland.
We supplied 100 beds and regular food deliveries to Krakow’s Central Train Station in cooperation with Polish Scouts.
We evacuated over 10,000 refugees from across Ukraine via a transport hub we set up in Lviv.
We partnered with a local Ukrainian NGO and funded 12 full time psychologists who provided 1,400 hours a month of therapy in 5 locations in Krakow for 4 months.
We created and ran a mother and child safe space that provided day care for 25 young children, and 20 Polish and English classes a week for their mothers, as well as psychological counseling and job training in a warm, cozy environment.
We supported an orphanage from Chernihiv with 40 children that we helped relocate to Poland.
We created a project to support and house vulnerable refugees including LGBTQ+, Roma and individuals with special needs in apartments in Krakow.
We funded a project providing legal counsel for refugees regarding immigration, labor and housing.
We partnered with an Israeli NGO and the Jesuit University in Krakow to train 68 local psychologists in trauma care.
We purchased and delivered battlefield bandages to Winnica hospital, close to the Polish border after the area was bombed.
We supported the “Closet of Good” distribution center which distributed 400,000 items of clothing to 80,000 refugees.
We partnered to create the only NGO help station on the Ukrainian side of the Korczowa border crossing, providing food, medical care and sanitary supplies to thousands of refugees..
We supported a LGBTQ+ friendly hostel that focused on non-white, non Ukrainian refugees from Ukraine.
We provided emergency transport for 40 Ukrainian children with severe autism to Vienna from across Ukraine.
We sent 5 tons of food and supplies to Bucha after the Russian retreat.
We partnered with four local NGOs to run one of Krakow’s central refugee hubs. Staffed by two dozen Ukrainian speakers, it provided logistic and psychosocial support to hundreds of Ukrainians daily, over 30,000 in total.
We worked with the US based Shapiro Foundation on the US Government’s United for Ukraine Program which allowed refugees to resettle in the US. We housed and supported them as they waited.
We ran a program to teach Polish to 20 refugee teachers at a Ukrainian school in Krakow.
Click here to see a list of donors to our Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
Friends of JCC Krakow Fundraising Guidelines:
Please note that, in strict conformance with IRS guidelines, Friends of JCC Krakow does not accept contributions that are earmarked or required to be distributed to JCC Krakow or any other organization. The Directors of the Friends of JCC Krakow have complete discretion and control over the ultimate disposition of any contributions received by the organization. While donors may suggest that their gifts be used for a specific purpose, these requests are non-binding on the Friends of JCC Krakow. This ensures that gifts made to the Friends of JCC Krakow are tax-deductible and that Friends of JCC Krakow fulfills its duties and obligations as a U.S. tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Code.