- November 21, 2025
- 8:06 pm
- Ukraine
On November 20, 2025, the United Jewish Community of Ukraine reported on a small but very indicative initiative from Chernivtsi. Students, parents, and teachers of Jewish Lyceum No. 15 “ORT” collected targeted assistance for military personnel holding positions in the Pokrovske direction.
The news spread quickly — and not just because it’s about the war. People value perspective: when the community doesn’t wait but acts.
A Lyceum Where Education and Community Values Go Together
Chernivtsi Lyceum No. 15 “ORT” has long been known in the city. Formally — a regular state educational institution. In essence — a school with a clear ethnocultural program: the history of the Jewish people, traditions, modern culture, language component, projects with international Jewish educational foundations.
The building is old, in the city center. The atmosphere is mixed: children from different families and nationalities, but a common focus on mutual support and respect. Teachers often say that their task is not only knowledge but also the upbringing of people capable of responding to reality, not turning away from it.
Therefore, participation in volunteer initiatives here is not something rare. It’s part of the school norm.
From Request to Action
It all started with a message from an organization uniting mothers and wives of military personnel. Nothing loud: just a list of necessary items for the guys in the Pokrovske direction.
Warm insoles. Socks. Warmers. Band-aids. Antiseptics. Painkillers. Sweets for quick snacks. Napkins. Basic hygiene.
Teachers discussed this with parents, and within a couple of hours, an improvised “headquarters” appeared in the lyceum: desks turned into sorting tables, children signed packages, packed boxes, wrote short postcards. Parents brought everything they could: from medicines to thermal underwear.
What Exactly Was Sent to the Fighters
In three days, they collected a set that cannot be called symbolic:
medical supplies,
antiseptics and band-aids,
warm items — socks, insoles, gloves,
chemical warmers,
coffee, tea, bars, nuts,
items for individual first aid kits,
hygiene products and wet wipes,
dozens of letters and children’s drawings.
Special attention was paid to ensuring that each box contained a personal message. At the front, such small things work more powerfully than it seems: it’s a connection with home and a reminder that they are awaited.
How Everything Was Delivered
The lyceum used a proven delivery channel. Carriers working with the front line confirmed receipt of the cargo almost immediately. The military sent photos and recordings of gratitude.
The fighters especially noted the students’ letters — honest, simple, without pathos.
Why This Is a Common Practice for the Lyceum
Since 2022, the school has repeatedly sent humanitarian aid: for the military, hospitals, displaced persons, community centers.
Parents and teachers have experience, a working scheme, and an understanding that small initiatives often have a real effect.
For children, this is also an important lesson: supporting the army is not “somewhere out there.” These are quite specific actions that even schoolchildren can take.
The Place of the Lyceum in the Chernivtsi Community
Chernivtsi is a city with a long Jewish history. For locals, participation in volunteering is not a new trend but a continuation of an old common tradition.
Lyceum No. 15 “ORT” has become a point where this tradition is manifested not through a museum or lecture, but through actions. Here, culture is not an abstraction but an everyday practice.
Why This Is Important Right Now
The Pokrovske direction remains one of the most tense sections of the front. When the situation there began to worsen, many communities started looking for ways to help.
The story of the lyceum shows how educational institutions can become centers of civic activity — quick, organized, effective.
Such initiatives are not huge projects, not reports of hundreds of pages.
These are dozens of small steps taken by people who understand that holding the country together also depends on them. And in this sense, the work of the lyceum is as much a contribution as any large volunteer programs.
It is such stories that form the living fabric of society, which NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency often writes about, reminding us: a community becomes strong where people do what they can — without unnecessary words.
