As the world has watched the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold over the past two weeks, local residents with deep connections are stirred by the plight of Ukrainians and stepping up to help.
Beth Am lends support
Los Altos Hills’ Congregation Beth Am, a Reform Jewish congregation, has long-standing relationships with multiple synagogues in Ukraine, with sister congregations in Odessa and Poltava.
Cherie Half, chair of the Poltava/Odessa committee at Beth Am, said she’s been in touch with the leader of Poltava’s Reformed community, Eugenia Noshenko, nearly every day since the invasion began.
Poltava, a small city along the main road between Kharkiv and Kyiv, has been spared the brunt of the invasion so far; however, Noshenko told J. Weekly that the city is under curfew and even venturing out for food is not recommended.
Odessa, a critical seaport for Ukraine, is more central to the conflict. The city’s mayor, Gennady Trukhanov, informed The New York Times last week that he expected Russian forces to surround Odessa on land and sea. Rabbi Julia Gris of Shirat ha-Yam, Beth Am’s sister congregation in Odessa, escaped to Poland with 40 of her congregants last week.
On Sunday, she shared her experience of escaping from Ukraine with congregants from Beth Am via zoom. Now in Poland, Gris said, “I couldn’t sleep and eat knowing that lots of my friends and congregants and close people are staying in unsafe places and shelters.”
Beth Am had planned a joint women’s photography project and study of women of the Torah later this month, which has now been suspended. The congregation is collecting offerings for Ukraine at its Shabbat services, but due to cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks, they are not yet sure how they will transfer the funds.
Nova Ukraine steps up
Nova Ukraine, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit committed to “building a new Ukraine,” launched in response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Now, the group is working to support Ukraine as it faces aggressive airstrikes on civilian targets and a refugee crisis.
Igor Markov, a Mountain View resident and director with Nova Ukraine, grew up in Kyiv before moving to the United States.
“The place in Kyiv where I grew up was bombarded,” Markov told the Town Crier last week. “My uncle lived in Kyiv until (Feb. 25) and escaped with my aunt and cousin.”
Markov has been involved with Nova Ukraine for years and, for now, he’s focused on supporting humanitarian efforts in any way possible, from shipping medical supplies to Poland to sending bulletproof vests to Ukrainian defense
forces.
“I’m trying not to think of feelings much because there’s so much work going on,” he said.
In addition to fundraisers, Nova Ukraine and other Ukrainian support organizations in the Bay Area are staging protests to advocate for specific demands. Already, their requests to ban Russia from SWIFT, the global financial transaction system, met with success.
Last weekend in San Jose, a protest focused on communicating how tech companies can help inflict economic pain on Russia.
According to Markov, Nova Ukraine has been overwhelmed with emails asking how people can volunteer to help. He said there is a particular need for volunteers with legal expertise and logistics acumen, as well as people who can offer places to stay for Ukrainians stranded in the Bay Area following the
invasion.
Markov said he is encouraged by the Ukrainian resistance and by people around the world looking for ways to support the Ukrainian people.
“When I was talking to the media … especially before the war started, the question was, ‘Why should Americans care?’” he said. “No one is asking this question now.”
For more information on Nova Ukraine’s projects and how to donate, visit novaukraine.org. Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation also published a charity guide for those interested to donating to relief in Ukraine. For the full list of organizations losaltoscf.org/blog/ukraine-humanitarian-support/.
