More than $28,225,000 was spent by the Joint Distribution Committee last year to aid 232,500 men, women and children in 25 countries, it was reported here today by Moses A . Leavitt, JDC executive vice-chairman. The funds were received from the campaigns of the United Jewish Appeal.
The annual report on the activities of the JDC, presented by Mr. Leavitt, showed an increase of close to 20, 000 in the number of people helped over the previous year, and an increase in expenditures of close to $700, 000. Of the total of Jews who received JDC aid last year, 107,000 were in Moslem countries, principally in Morocco, over 68,000 were in Israel; and 52, 000 in Europe. In addition, the JDC aid reached out to needy Jews in Australia, the Philippines. China, Chile, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, For 1961 the JDC has adopted a budget of $28, 775, 000 to finance its global operations.
The report showed the JDC provided a feeding program for an average of 90, 000 people a month, two-thirds of them in Moslem areas. It provided cash relief for an average of 41, 000 people each month; medical care for 33, 000; care in homes for the aged for 5, 700; care of 3, 000 children and young people; education aid to 71,500; and aid to an additional 37, 000 through a variety of other cultural and religious activities.
Although they accounted for only a small part of the total JDC program in 1960, several “little disasters” occurred which required emergency operations, the report stated. One of these was the JDC operation in Agadir, following the earthquake last year. Mr. Leavitt reported that 1, 200 to 1, 300 Jews were among the 10, 000 to 12, 000 persons buried in the rubble in the first moments of the first moments of the catastrophe. The JDC was the first voluntary agency to reach the disaster area with food, clothing and funds, he said.
Added to this were two other “little disasters”–an earthquake in Chile, and another in Lars, a small town in Iran. In both instances, the JDC authorized funds not only for the reconstruction of the Jewish community but for the general population as well. Following the anti-European rioting in the Congo, last June, Mr. Leavitt made a flying visit to survey the needs of the Jewish community of approximately 2, 000. He found that most of them had escaped either to neighboring countries or to Europe. Fifty families had made their way to Israel.
Although the financial mainstay of the JDC continues to be the United Jewish Appeal, Mr. Leavitt reported that a sizeable allocation was made by the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany, to be used for the relief and rehabilitation of Nazi victims, and that smaller sums had been contributed by the Jewish communities of Canada, Latin America and by a number of governmental and intergovernmental agencies.
WARBURG LAUDS AMERICAN JEWRY FOR SUPPORTING J.D.C. EFFORTS
In introducing Mr. Leavitt’s report on the agency’s operations, Edward M.M. Warburg, chairman of the JDC, observed that those who have guided am supported JDC’s efforts have
The report also contains a statement by Sol Satinsky of Philadelphia, chairman of the JDC national council, an audit of the agency’s financial operations for the year, and a summary of the total expenditures since the agency was founded in 1914. The total for the 47-year period was $694, 805, 768.
SIGNIFICANCE OF CONFERENCE OF JEWISH COMMUNAL LEADERS STRESSED
One of the major developments in 1960, Mr. Leavitt said, was the establishment of the Standing Conference on European Jewish Communal Services, composed of leaders of more than 100 Jewish organizations in 14 European countries. Its goal is to facilitate exchange of information and strengthen cooperation among Jewish communal bodies across national boundaries.
Although the program is a modest one, Mr. Leavitt declared “its significance is far greater. For in its way it is an extraordinary answer to war and to Nazism. The significance of the Standing Committee is that there are now leaders, community institutions and a whole new structure of community life” to build up anew, communities that were destroyed by the Nazis, and to replace leadership virtually wiped out by them.
Of the more than 68,000 Jews aided in Israel during 1960, about 42,500 were cared for in the JDC-Malben welfare programs on behalf of the aged, ill and handicapped newcomers to the Jewish State, Mr. Leavitt reported. A significant development in the Malben program was the shift in emphasis from institutional to extra-mural care, he said This, together with rapid strides in rehabilitation, has reduced the waiting lists for people to come in, and has even provided bed space for old-time residents who would not ordinarily be eligible for Malben aid.
In addition to the Malben program, JDC continued its traditional support of cultural and religious institutions in Israel, a program which extends to more than 13,700 beneficiaries. Two new yeshivoth were added to the list of religious schools supported by JDC, raising the total to 92. These schools have a combined enrollment of over 9,000. Other programs subsidized by JDC were a project on behalf of refugee rabbis involving 1, 670 beneficiaries, and five research projects aiding another 100. The JDC-assisted ORT vocational training program aided over 10, 000 students in Israel during 1960.
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