KKL-JNF responded to a request from the Federation of Jewish Communities of the former Soviet Union and will be hosting children ages 2 to 18 and about 40 staff members from the Alumim orphanage located in the city of Zhytomyr in western Ukraine.
Roni Shabtai, the Israeli consul in Romania, on Tuesday night helped a group of about 100 Jewish children from an orphanage in the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr to cross the border into Romania. The orphans traveled by bus from Zhytomyr, a distance of almost 430 miles. The journey took two days due to numerous forced stops.
It was reported that some of the children did not have proper documentation for the crossing and required the consul’s help and the goodwill of the governor of Suceava district in Romania to leave Ukraine safely. The governor’s late wife was treated for cancer in Israel four years ago.
Alumim Children’s Home and Social Rehabilitation Center for Jewish Children was founded in 2007 in the picturesque suburbs of Zhytomyr by the FJC-FSU with the generous support of the Keshet and Leviev Funds. It was designed as a haven for Jewish children from dysfunctional homes, including orphaned, destitute, abandoned, and abused children of all ages.
Alumim is not an orphanage, but a home filled with warmth that inspires Jewish children to succeed and achieve the very best life has to offer.
Upon arrival in Israel, the children and the staff will be transported to KKL-JNF’s Nes Harim Field and Forest Center in the Jerusalem mountains.
During their stay, the children and staff will be under the care of KKL-JNF, which will be creating activities and arranging Torah study rooms, at the request of the orphanage staff.
KKL-JNF Chairman Avraham Duvdevani said: “The situation in Ukraine is worrying, especially the situation of the children, so we decided to open the gates of the Ness Harim Field and Forest Center and host the children as much as possible in such a complex period.”
