World Jewish Relief Annual Dinner
On Monday 9th November, 540 of WJR's dedicated supporters gathered at Guildhall, for the charity's annual fundraising dinner. In an innovative and exciting way, guests were sent on a virtual mission to meet the communities and individuals that WJR support in Moldova, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
Through the exceptional generosity of the dinner guests along with the hard work and dedication of the WJR team, chaired by Caroline Reeback the charity raised £1.5m on the night, matching the figure raised last year.
Broadcaster and writer James Max introduced guests to the WJR team overseas - Paul Anticoni in Ukraine, Zoe Cole in Moldova and Ruth Feigenbaum in Zimbabwe. The audience was moved by interviews from WJR recipients who shared their life stories and day-to-day experiences about living in difficult conditions and under extremely challenging circumstances.
The Dinner fell on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Nigel Layton, WJR's chairman of seven years, paid tribute to this historic event which enabled WJR to begin the momentous task of helping to rebuild and regenerate the many Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union that had been threatened by the Nazis and then by Communism.
"Our help today in creating viable, sustainable communities provides real hope and security for the future of the wider Jewish community of Europe. During this past year alone, WJR has assisted over 165,000 of the neediest Jews in the world."
Nigel Layton went on to discuss the challenging times ahead and the huge importance for WJR to continue to provide life saving programmes to the most vulnerable.
"In the midst of this recession, we are mindful each day that we are the guardians of your money and it is our responsibility to ensure that we keep our promise to you and spend your money wisely. WJR continues to manage its budget carefully and is actively cutting out all unnecessary costs. At last year's dinner we upset the flower arrangers by cutting out the flowers. This year, I am hugely unpopular with the video producers. Ditching the video has enabled us to provide an extra 2618 extra meals to hungry and cold Jews and 2222 additional hours of personal homecare."
The evening reached an emotional climax as the crowd was touched by the incredible words of Oksana Galkevich - Director of the WJR supported Kharkov Jewish Community in Ukraine, who spoke about her life helping to provide care and attention for over 50,000 Kharkov Jews.
Oksana said; "I have been working at the Kharkov Jewish Community Centre for 10 years and I remember my mum getting hysterical and begging me to quit because every evening I used to come home in tears. I just couldn't help it being exposed to so much misery and so many hardships these people were facing in their lives, and the state totally ignoring their needs and leaving them in isolation and despair."
She continued, "You might think that having seen hundred of miserable lives, with time, your skin gets thicker and heart harder....not true. I think of my five year old son, and how much it costs to buy him an apple a day....and I believe that every child has a right to have an apple when he or she needs it. Something is terribly wrong with this country if we still have hungry children in the 21st century."
Oskana's experiences gave the audience further access to unthinkable poverty, as well as uplifting progress, made by WJR's Community Centre and welfare programme in Ukraine, one of 19 countries where similar work is enabled by WJR.
