Art Supplies for Ukrainian Children Refugees

Over 75 years after our ancestors fled anti-Semitic persecution in Eastern Europe, the world is again witnessing the pain and suffering of millions of refugees in this very same region. Putin’s unconscionable and merciless assault on Ukraine has left many people asking, “how can we help?”

 

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC) organized a safe shelter in what was once the prestigious Lublin Yeshiva (a school of Jewish study) in Poland, where its precious library books had been burned and students killed by the Nazis. Today, this site of destruction has been transformed into a living refuge by an army of compassionate, dedicated volunteers. It is now a safe shelter, providing food and clothing for Ukrainian families, mostly women and children, fleeing the senseless destruction of their homes and country.

 

I am an artist, and together with my wife and three children, we are initiating an effort to purchase art supplies to send to this Lublin refuge. The children who will take shelter there are facing such a challenging, traumatic moment in their young lives. We want them to have the resources to create beauty, process their experiences, and continue to explore and express their imaginations.

 

Our goal is to raise $5,000.00 in five days. We will purchase paint sets, colored pencils, brushes, drawing paper and other art supplies in Poland. I have arranged for my Polish colleagues to hand-deliver the supplies to the Lublin Yeshiva for use by the children and their families.

 

We are initiating this effort with the blessing of the AJDC. Your support will allow us to purchase and deliver the materials that will bring color and light to the lives of young people at a time when their world seems so dark. It is not much, given the enormity of this crisis, but we believe that it will still make a difference.

 

-Robert Katz