Local Jewish school and temple raises $250K for Ukrainian refugees

A Jewish school and temple in Bel Air helped raise $250,000 for humanitarian aid and to relocate Ukrainian refugees fleeing from the Russian invasion. 

The Stephen Wise Temple and Wise School in Bel Air partnered with United Hatzalah, a network of more than 6,000 volunteers based out of Israel. For the past four weeks, they have been evacuating Ukrainian refugees. 

"I have been to disasters around the world, whether it was hurricanes or earthquakes in Nepal, Haiti and all the other places," said co-founder of United Hatzalah Dov Maisel. "This is a human catastrophe on a scale that I have never seen." 

The group has evacuated about 2,000 refugees to Israel and offers medical and mental health services. 

"There's an exodus happening right now," said the head of Wise School Tami Weiser. "I know that all of our students and families are deeply moved to participate in this."

The group is also working to transport medicine and medical aid to Ukraine. 

"For us as a religious institution that cares about compassion and that cares about loving the other," said Rabbi Yoshi Zwuiback. "We feel compelled. We have no other choice than to try to save lives."