World Humanitarian Day is a global celebration of people helping people. It is intended to raise public awareness of humanitarian assistance worldwide and shine a light on the thousands of volunteers, professionals and crisis-affected people who deliver urgent health care, shelter, food, protection, water and much more.
JRNU is blessed to have a team of coordinators who give of themselves each and every day to help the people of Ukraine--no one more than Alisa Rostotseva. Alisa is a program coordinator who works in Vinnytsia, after she and her family fled their hometown of Mariupol.
Her smiling face and cheerful attitude belie the incredible challenges she has endured. Alisa and her husband planned to evacuate Mariupol with her in-laws and the grandmother. Tragically, before they could flee, Alisa’s mother was killed in one of the bombings. The family had no alternative but to bury her in the yard behind their apartment building. Then, while en route to Vinnytsia, while the family was staying in Zaporizhzhia, Alisa’s father in law had a stroke and died.
Once in Vinnytsia, Alisa and her family were embraced by the Jewish community and JRNU staff who immediately set about helping the family rebuild their lives. Alisa found refuge in her work; helping other people is therapy for the losses she has endured. She takes special care of the 170 families who evacuated from the eastern regions of Ukraine along with the entire community she serves. Alisa brightens the lives of thousands of people everyday as she brings them aid and hope, with her smiling face and positive attitude, despite her pain and she continues to grieve for the loved ones she lost.
