Overview

A portion of the Foreign Assistance offered by the United States government includes a variety of programs which come through the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food for Peace, Food for Progress and others.  Most of these programs are administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

FAS/USDA manages programs in needy countries throughout the world.  In selecting partner organizations, FAS/USDA chooses only those organizations with a proven track record of effectively receiving, shipping, and distributing food to families in countries of need.  The highest priority in the selection process is the organization’s credibility and its capability to ensure that food reaches the intended recipients without any leaks along the way.

In 1993, only one year after GJARN was founded, we received our first grant from FAS/USDA.  It consisted of 3,000 MT (metric tons which are 2,200 pounds each) of butter for distribution in Ukraine. GJARN has subsequently signed consecutive grants with USDA for distribution of various food commodities in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

From 1993 to 1998, GJARN received and distributed 6,400 MT.  We also monetized an additional 2,320 MT under a separate program in which the U.S. government supplies food as a donation and GJARN sells the food on the open market in Ukraine, using the proceeds for long-term development projects.  Those families with the resources to buy their own supplies receive food that is of better quality and more reasonably priced than anything else they can purchase.

The 6,400 MT was distributed to approximately 5,000,000 needy people. To date, GJARN has distributed 14,080,000 pounds of donated, nutritious, life-sustaining food to poverty-stricken families, including many children, throughout the Former Soviet Union, and in other countries of need around the world.  This is particularly critical for the children in these underprivileged areas whose bodies require adequate nutrition in order to grow properly.  Additionally, their capacity to learn and concentrate in school when they are hungry is severely compromised, complicating even further the detrimental effects of poverty and hunger.

A sampling of the recipient organizations and individuals who receive this aid includes: the elderly, pensioners, disabled adults and children, orphans, veterans, the ill, single parent families, large families, schools, hospitals, widows, blood donors, Red Cross volunteers, and many others. Additionally, GJARN makes every effort to reach out to the Righteous Gentiles of the Second World War.  Risking their lives and those of their families at the hands of the Nazis, these courageous individuals saved the lives of many Jews.  A large proportion of them now live in dire poverty and isolation and GJARN works hard to ensure that they receive adequate food provisions.

To ensure that at least a significant portion of the donated food reaches those in greatest need, Congress mandated that at least 100,000 MT (2,200,000 pounds) be distributed through U. S. P.V.O.'s (private voluntary organizations) with proven track records.

The selection process was very thorough. More than 50 proposals were submitted.  GJARN is one of only five organizations selected by the USDA to distribute these life-sustaining goods.  The five P.V.O.’s are:  GJARN, American Red Cross, IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities), Feed the Children, and Project Aid to Siberia. GJARN received the largest allocation -- 25,720MT.  This is due to the fact that GJARN has repeatedly and consistently proven its exceptional efficiency at ensuring that food and other necessities will reach those most in need and that this will happen in the most effective and swiftest fashion possible.

While each of the other four organizations are working in specific areas and regions, GJARN's program encompasses the entire Russian Federation, with simultaneous programs and distribution plans in place in more than 120 cities reaching from Moscow in the West to Vladivostok and Kamchatka in the Russian Far East.

GJARN distribution sites are generally set up in Jewish communities however, food is always allocated on a non-sectarian, need-based fashion.

For more information on GJARN’s USDA Food Distribution Programs, please click on Where is GJARN for maps of sites and GJARN Shipments for charts and graphics on the distributions. To find out what you can do, please click on How You Can Help.  Or e-mail us at: usda@globaljewish.org