"It shook me to the core": Jewish community leader from New Jersey helps Ukrainian refugees in Poland
PARAMUS, N.J. -- Since Russia's assault on Ukraine, an estimated 3.5 million people have left the country.
CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis spoke with a Jewish community leader from New Jersey who is in Poland on a humanitarian mission to help the refugees.
"It's total despair, mental anguish, pain, suffering, trauma," said Jason Shames, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
Shames is witnessing it firsthand. He arrived in Poland on Monday with bags full of clothes for refugees and a full heart, ready to help.
"There's this whole sequence of being a refugee, that if you don't see it, you wouldn't believe it. I've never seen something like that in my life," he said.
Shames spoke teo DeAngelis from a hotel in Warsaw, a place his grandmother ran from when it was Nazi-run during World War II.
"She ran for her life. In 1939, she left a family of 12 or 13 behind in the middle of the night never saw them again. [She] had nothing really positive to say and now, here I am back in, in sort of her hometown, and I'm witnessing the ingathering and the opposite of sort of what happened in 1939 and 1940, and I think we as Americans have a responsibility to support, encourage that and and try and end this conflict as soon as possible," he said.
The Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey has worked for decades with partner agencies in Ukraine to support its Jewish community.
"Our goal is to, one, not only help those who want to move to Israel move to Israel, but to help with the — mental health and well-being and social welfare, food, medicine. whatnot for those who are staying and to help them in terms of figuring out what to do next," Shames said.
He described what it's like at the border.
"The common theme of being displaced is the mental anguish of leaving your home and everything you know, so everybody is traumatized in their own way," he said.
There are tents lined with countless volunteers waiting to help Ukrainians crossing into Poland.
"People coming with just a suitcase, a bag, it's their only thing left in life and they're just trying to get out and go somewhere new," Shames said.
"How would you describe what it was like witnessing that?" DeAngelis asked.
"It shook me to the core," Shames said. "It's hard to watch. I mean, I, you know, I'm married with two kids and the thought of leaving my home and crossing a border like that into an unknown is scary."
Each has a story from what they left behind to how they're coping.
For 15-year-old Sophia, it's through art. Her dream is to be an animator.
With the help of organizations like Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, there's hope.
"I wish you never to give up, follow your dream. I'm following mine," Sophia said through a translator.
Shames says it's important to share the stories of the millions forced to start new as they need all the help they can get from supplies to funding and advocacy.
"There is the best of humanity part that comes out, too, and watching, you know, everyone, they're taking care of these refugees like they were their own families," Shames said.
To date, the federation has donated more than $600,000 to Ukraine relief and counting. Shames says all the money the organization collects will go directly to help refugees from this crisis.
"It's very expensive, you know. We heard from an orphanage that used to be in Odessa with 390 kids. It's costing $32,000 a night just to house 390 kids and feed them," Shames said.
For more information about the federation, visit jfnnj.org. To donate, visit secure.qgiv.com/for/ukremefun.