In response to the ongoing and deepening crisis in the Ukraine, RKYHS planned a three-stage program throughout the school to help those affected by the war, as well as develop students’ understanding of the situation in the region. The RKYHS Chesed Executive Board is overseeing a ‘donation drop-off’ in the high school at which students are asked to deposit specific items that will be given to Ukrainian refugees in conjunction with the AFYA Foundation. The AFYA Foundation is working in partnership with US-Ukraine Foundation and others to support the Ukrainian medical community and refugees seeking aid.

For the education part of the approach, for their SEED speaker session, RKYHS students heard from Jonathan Wachtel, a frequent global affairs analyst for international media outlets, who presented an analysis of the Ukrainian/Russian crisis. Wachtel spoke about his extensive experience and background in the region, and offered insight and a window into the difficulty of understanding the whole picture of the Russian/Ukranian crisis. He distilled the situation down to a level for students to understand and answered their thoughtful questions on a range of topics including how Israel should navigate the crisis and dealings with Russia, what he anticipates will be the end of the conflict, how to effectively navigate social media and use it to be an ambassador for good, oil sanctions and more.

As the third part of the Ukrainian efforts, students will have the opportunity to take the donated items they’re collecting to the AFYA Foundation and assist in sorting through the vast array of collected items in the warehouse, before they are airlifted to the region. RKYHS students jumped at this incredible opportunity to see and be part of the large-scale humanitarian project undertaken by the AFYA, and all of the spots to sign up to perform this mitzvah were filled in less than one hour.