UJA-Federation of New York logo. Photo: Screenshot.

JNS.org – The UJA-Federation of New York announced on Wednesday nearly $9 million in new COVID-19 relief grants to support struggling Jewish families, frontline workers and others in the New York region.

This is the federation’s third round of emergency funding during the coronavirus pandemic.

“At the core of the New York Jewish community is an incredible infrastructure of organizations that underpin our ability to sustain and strengthen Jewish life into the future. In this third round of relief, we’re helping to ensure that the tens of thousands in our community directly impacted by COVID-19 are still able to access these critical Jewish resources,” said UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein.

He added, “At the same time, as this virus continues to ravage the most vulnerable among us, UJA remains committed to doing all that we can to support and protect our community —from individuals afflicted with the virus and those fighting it on the frontlines, to the invaluable neighborhood institutions that make us who we are.”

The nearly $9 million in grants will be divided as such: $6 million to support Jewish summer sleep-a-way and day camps; a new $2 million scholarship fund will be created for families seeking significant financial assistance as a result of COVID-19; and $600,000 will be made available to four local rabbinic associations, which will then be distributed to the “most vulnerable members of their congregational communities,” the federation said.

UJA granted an additional $300,000 to the Afya Foundation to secure a month’s supply of gloves and masks for its nonprofit partner agencies.

A $50,000 grant was issued to Hatzalah to support purchasing personal protective equipment, referred to as PPE, for their more than 1,000 volunteers and 100 ambulance crews.