The Jewish Federation Connecting with Community presents "Volunteer for Humanitarian Aid and the Refugee Crisis" with Cari Naftali.

Cari will share her experience in having traveled to Greece three times, since 2015, to work firsthand with refugees.  With the largest humanitarian crises in human history, there are 68.5 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, one person is forced to flee his or her home every two seconds. That's 44,400 people per day.

"It was my first direct exposure with this level of suffering in the world," Naftali said.  Each day she saw the arrival of thousands of refugees - Syrians as well as Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians - soaking wet, suffering from hypothermia and other significant wounds.  "Rarely anyone spoke English.  Although we were volunteers from all over the world with different religions, languages and cultures, we were all volunteers, we came there for the common purpose of wanting to help people." Please join us to welcome Cari Naftali.

This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day of the program.