In February 2022, the world watched in horror as the war in Ukraine began. So many in Israel (our staff included) have relatives directly affected by the war. Israel is no stranger to the suffering and trauma of war, and we knew we had to help.
Throughout the early days of the conflict, we sent and supported a number of aid teams assisting refugees fleeing Ukraine into neighboring Poland, Moldova, and Romania. During that time, we helped stock refugee centers with essentials, transport refugees from the borders to surrounding safe cities, opened a pop-up pharmacy for refugees, brought medical supplies specifically for pregnant women, set up a playroom for traumatized children of refugee families, and supported a rescue crew bringing families out of war zones into Romania.
Our team recognized the clear and present need for mattresses, clothing, bedding, towels, blankets, and basic furniture. We sprang into action and quickly started providing these items to partner organizations working directly with immigrants and refugees throughout the country, helping house and provide for them. To this end, we supplied over 3,400 mattresses and beds as part of our ongoing emergency housing operations for the massive continuous waves of immigrants. In addition, over 5,000 boxes of clothing for all ages and genders, together with tens of thousands of pieces of furniture, went towards thousands of new immigrants from Ukraine and around the world who made Israel their home in 2022. In total, we estimate that approximately 40,000 immigrants received aid from Joseph Project in the past year!