At the invitation of Anne and Hannu Ylitalo, Janina Ilie from the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania came to Vienna for a long weekend at the beginning of June 2024. The highlights of her stay were a relaxed exchange over dinner with musical accompaniment on the electric piano by Andrei Roth, a trip to Kahlenberg including a panoramic view… Read more →
Our Trip to Radauti
As many relief goods were donated, we decided to make a relief trip to the Ukrainian border. We only had three days, but we thought that would be enough, as we had no other appointments than the delivery of the goods at the Ukrainian border in Radauti. This time the cargo included food, washing powder, clothes, baby food, diapers, mattresses,… Read more →
Oradea and Hungary – a Remarkable History
A furniture donation was the reason to travel again to Oradea, Romania (located right on the Hungarian-Romanian border) at the end of April 2024 and to support people2people (https://people2people.ro) with various relief supplies. This service mainly takes care of Roma children, i.e. children’s clothing was a priority alongside the furniture, including a desk. So a friend was contacted who had… Read more →
Small Gifts for Passover in Bucharest
Pesach, the Jewish festival of Passover, is celebrated for seven days (eight days in Romania), according to Leviticus 23:5-6. This year it took place from April 22nd to 30th. On the first two days, the Seder meal is eaten and the Haggadah is read, which tells of the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slavery under the leadership of Moses.… Read more →
Elfi and Anne’s Trip to the Ukrainian Border (March 2024)
In March we (Anne and Elfi) set off on the long journey to the Ukrainian border. This time we took around 600 kilos of relief supplies, including toilet paper, 80 kilos of washing powder, clothes, socks, around 70 kilos of cat and dog food, 100 kilos of food, dishes, a stroller and a baby carrier. In addition to the cash… Read more →
Chairs and Craft Materials for the Satu Mare Hospital
The hospital “Spitalul Judetean de Urgenta Satu Mare” (Satu Mare County Emergency Hospital), with which we have been in contact for some time, has contacted us again to ask if we could help them set up their pediatric ward. Various craft materials, tables and chairs were needed for the little patients. We were very happy to be able to send… Read more →
Wool Socks for the Needy in the Bucharest Area
With the help of a Jewish friend living in Bucharest, socks knitted in Finland could be distributed in the Dolj and Teleorman districts (southwest of Bucharest). Our friend had visited elderly people in these areas a month earlier and sent us an urgent call for help. She asked us to send her these wonderful, warm wool socks from Finland. Many… Read more →
Budapest Family Day in February
Back in December 2023, we brought sweets and coffee to Budapest for a Jewish organization’s family day. Finally, at the family day in February 2024, the colorful bags full of sweets were distributed to the children. There were chocolates for the adults. Anne and Hannu Ylitalo (February, 2024) Read more →
Our Trip to Chernivtsi
Long before Hanukkah in December, we and a friend prepared about a hundred Hanukkah gift packages that we wanted to take with us on our trip to Ukraine at the end of October. The packages consisted of hand-knitted Finnish wool socks and a large bar of chocolate. On October 25th we set off from Vienna for the first stage to… Read more →
Air Raid Shelters and My Thoughts about it: Our Trip to Ukraine/Chernivtsi
Just in time for the start of the school year, Samuel Huber-Huber, Noah Huber-Huber and I successfully transported a number of necessary items such as school bags, toys, school supplies and hygiene products to Chernivtsi in Ukraine. On site we received valuable support from the organization “New Family”, where we were warmly welcomed by Tanya Berezhnaya, the leader. Tanya kindly… Read more →