The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has announced the creation of a special $10.5 million fund for the Jewish community in Russia and the CIS countries, which is aimed at supplementing the social assistance system.

Lev Leviev, the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS and backer of Jewish educational projects in Russia and the CIS, approached the IFCJ to request aid in salvaging a system which has seen reduced funding due to the current worldwide economic crisis. Leviev underlined that the IFCJ is now a primary organization funding social programs in more than 500 Jewish communities in the Former Soviet Union.

The IFCJ’s Friendship Fund will finance the provision of hot meals, food parcels, warm clothes, blankets and medicine for the needy. It will operate through its offices in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.