WJR has played an integral part in the formation of the Jewish community of Serbia, not least through its food programmes. Following the fall of Communism, the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the culmination of the Balkans War, life for the average Serbia has not improved drastically. High inflation and poor economic management throughout the 1990s have taken their toll on an already battered nation that today struggles to understand the events of recent history that were played out on their soil.

The Serbians are a proud people who have no desire to rely on charity or on handouts. These welfare programmes, small as they are, allow individuals to retain their dignity and work hard to get themselves out of the poverty cycle and onto the cycle of success and self-sufficiency.