for 30-some years, but I never expected
it to hit this hard psychologically,”
he said.

In addition to continuing trauma-in-
formed counseling to restless Ukrainian
immigrants in Philadelphia, Krug has
encouraged others to donate to the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s
Ukraine Emergency Fund.

“I prefer to do monetary support
because it’s cheaper to buy stuff there
[in Ukraine]. So if you give money
to reputable sources like [Jewish]
Federation, like JDC (American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee), it’s
going to get where it’s supposed to get.”
The emotional
proximity of the crisis
in Ukraine has
motivated Philadelphia Jews to
double down on
efforts to support
loved ones and
strangers alike
overseas. The Jewish Federations of North
America, in partnership with JDC, the
Jewish Agency for Israel, World ORT
and other organizations, identified a
goal of $20 million to raise to support
the estimated 200,000 Ukrainian Jews.

Forty- to 50,000 of those Jews are
“vulnerable populations,” and 10,000
are Holocaust survivors, accord-
ing to Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia President and CEO
Michael Balaban.

As of March 4, the Jewish
Federation’s campaign exceeded
$400,000 in donations.

“The needs are only escalating
throughout this crisis,” Balaban said.

“We’ve got pillars of the community
[and] people that we’ve never heard
of just stepping forward to provide
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