B'nai B'rith UK

We support a humanitarian medical programme for elderly Jews and righteous gentiles in Kyiv. The medical programme supports 50 very elderly and infirm residents who were unable to seek refuge in safer countries. We employ a doctor and a bookkeeper.

Prescriptions are filled at a local pharmacy and the delivery of medications, and all the other work is done by volunteers.

Professor Felix Levitas, President of the B’nai B’rith Kyiv Lodge, together with his wife, oversees the running of the medical aid project.

Qiryat Gat is the development town which has been the focus of a major part of BBUK's fund raising for more than 30 years. The town has absorbed 30,000 immigrants from 40 different origins, including Ethiopia, Russia and Central Asia, giving the town a high unemployment figure and many challenges among its inhabitants.

Over the years, BBUK has been involved in a number of projects in Qiryat Gat; and the current one was prompted by the revelation that school children were stealing sandwiches from each other. This was verified on investigation by visiting the homes in question where they found empty fridges and a general lack of food.

As a result, BBUK currently raises funds for the provision of regular food parcels for needy families. The food is sourced, packed and distributed by young Israeli volunteers who make up the deliveries discreetly, at night, so as not to draw attention to the recipients.