Project Spotlight: Winter Warmth 2025-2026

IFCJ Canada  |  December 24, 2025

Winter in the former Soviet Union is unforgiving. Heavy snowstorms and subzero temperatures make life even more treacherous for elderly Jews with no heating, hot meals, or warm clothes. Every year, thanks to the generosity of our donors, The Fellowship reaches thousands of cold and hungry Jews in the former Soviet Union through our Winter Warmth efforts. We also work closely with our partners at JDC to make sure that elderly and families aren’t left in the freezing cold without any support.

This year alone, The Fellowship’s global offices, including IFCJ Canada, has provided more than 65,000 people with heating assistance, warm winter clothing, blankets, financial assistance, and food – more than 50,000 in the former Soviet Union and 10,000 in Israel. 3,000 new olim celebrating Hanukkah in the Holy Land for the first time also received special Hanukkah gifts of warm clothing and food.

Fellowship volunteers deliver aid specially made for the extreme weather conditions. Every food item can be heated up; the clothing includes coats, blankets, and socks, and we even help provide fuel for heating systems. Of course, the warmth also comes from having someone show that they care for these suffering people and see their struggles. Some elderly beneficiaries are Holocaust survivors, and it’s always moving to hear their stories of survival and the role The Fellowship and its donors play in bettering their lives.

One of those survivors, Leonid, told us what our support means to him. “Without The Fellowship, we couldn’t manage at all. Prices go up every day. I couldn’t manage on my pension alone. If it weren’t for this support,” he said, “our lives would be very difficult.”

Leonid was born in 1934 in a small Jewish town in Moldova. Several years later when the Nazis arrived, he and his family traveled on foot and by train to escape them. When Jewish refugees like them passed through certain villages, they were turned away or even attacked. Hunger was a daily fact of life. His father had gone to fight and never returned. When he and his mother returned home after the war, the anti-Semitism was as strong as ever. As a Jew, Leonid found it difficult to apply to university and find work.

Today, Leonid lives alone in Chișinău. The aid The Fellowship provides goes beyond what his small pension can do when it comes to the cost of food and medication. The most valuable assistance he received was a bank card to help him overcome food insecurity, which is still his greatest worry today.

“As long as there’s warmth in the home and food on the table, we can survive the winter. I am deeply grateful to The Fellowship, because in these difficult times, your support is invaluable and helps sustain us. I wish you all the best. May your dreams and wishes come true,” said Leonid.

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4).