Schools
Wash Heights Students Going To Europe To Help Ukrainian Refugees
Nearly 30 students from Yeshiva University in Washington Heights are on their way to Vienna for seven days to support refugees from Ukraine.
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Members of the Upper Manhattan community are on their way to Europe to help Ukrainian refugees as Russia's invasion continues.
A total of 27 students from Yeshiva University, located at 500 West 187th Street, boarded a plane Sunday to Vienna, Austria, to support the "hundreds" of Ukrainian refugees relocated there with plans to help with educational activities for the children, sort donations, deliver relief supplies and coordinate housing.
Around 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled their country since the beginning of the invasion.
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The student trip will last until Sunday and is being led by Yeshiva University Vice Provost of Values and Leadership and Sacks-Herenstein Center Director Erica Brown and Rabbi Josh Blass.
Brown explained that the school picked Vienna as a destination for the trip because it is "close enough to the conflict zone to receive Ukrainian refugees but not close enough to endanger students."
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Within 24-hours of opening the application for the trip, 124 uptown students applied to take part, according to the school.
“I've been wanting to do something tangible to aid the Ukrainians, but anything in America felt too distant for me – this would be direct support to the refugees,” third-year student Yoni Mayer said in a news release about his decision to go on the trip.
Yeshiva University's undergraduate schools offer a unique dual curriculum comprising Jewish studies and liberal arts and sciences courses. The undergraduate program has a student population that is almost 100 percent Jewish.
As the Russian invasion continues in Ukraine, concern over the Jewish population in the country has spread around the world.
The Israeli government expects 20,000 Ukrainian Jews to emigrate to Israel, which is roughly 10 percent of the country's Jewish population.
In the first week of the war, more than 2,000 Ukrainians were flown to Israel.
You can read more: Once Victims in Southeast Europe, Jews Come to Aid Fleeing Ukrainians
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