The coronavirus creates not only problems, but also new opportunities, said Robert Singer, a philanthropist and chairman of the World ORT Board of Trustees, during one of the Kyiv Jewish Forum 2020 panel discussions, dedicated to the participation of Jews in the fight against COVID-19.
Speaking about the economic consequences of the coronavirus, Singer noted that a big problem could be the decrease in the financial ability of organizations involved in helping those in need, due to a decrease in the number of charitable contributions.
“I think that there won’t be a dramatic decrease in donations from the side of the big foundations, big donors. But I believe that small membership organizations that donate $10, $15, or $20 are in a completely different set-up. They are more oriented on the local needs, more money is invested locally, into the communities and the families, and less money of this kind will be available. But I think it’s too soon, it also depends on how long this crisis will continue, so at this stage we are looking into another 10 to 12 months at least. I think that at this stage small organizations or weak organizations probably will disappear; here in Israel we are speaking about 40% of NGOs, they will just disappear from the field,” he warned.
According to Singer, this crisis will bring down the organizations that are weak, but people who stay will become the future leaders of Jewish communities.
He stressed the need to coordinate the actions of opinion leaders of organizations and communities in the Jewish world to overcome threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Among such leaders, he named his discussion partners, Chairman of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Aaron Frenkel, CEO of Genesis Philanthropy Group Marina Yudborovsky, and the President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Boris Lozhkin. “We now understand much better the need to work together both in normal times and in the unique times, when the world is radically changing. And in times like these, we must be together,” Singer emphasized.
As a reminder, in his address to KJF 2020, President Zelensky commended the project of the President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Boris Lozhkin “The Righteous People of My City.”