In a few days, we will be participating in the Ride For The Living (RFTL), which includes both a 60-mile bike ride from the darkness of Auschwitz-Birkenau to the light of JCC Krakow
and a 5K/3 mile walk from the Plaszow concentration camp to JCC Krakow.
Toni began participating in 2023 after hearing about the RFTL from colleagues Dr. Robert and Anna Reed, who funded and created a medical mission at the Poland/Ukraine border after Russia invaded Ukraine and then partnered in the JCC Krakow's phenomenal humanitarian efforts on the part of Ukrainian refugees. Toni finds herself returning year after year to be part of this community that relentlessly confronts the darkness and creates and experiences hope and feels blessed to share the experience with Jonathan this year.
We'll be visiting alongside hundreds of participants from around the world in a powerful tribute to Jewish resilience and renewal.
It may surprise you that just an hour from Auschwitz, Jewish life has been reborn and thriving for almost two decades. Today, 80 years after the Holocaust, JCC Krakow is home to 1,200 members, including 56 Holocaust survivors, dozens of young families, children attending the first Jewish preschool in Krakow since the war, and an entire movement of young people just now discovering their family's long-suppressed Jewish heritage.
This community’s strength reaches far beyond its gates: JCC Krakow has supported more Ukrainian refugees than any other organization of its kind in the entire world. Having been victims only 80 years ago, this community has a special understanding of the responsibility to save others, and they’ve now supported over 450,000 Ukrainians since Russia’s invasion.
We would be grateful for your support as we embark on this physical and spiritual journey to uplift the JCC’s mission of building a vibrant, welcoming and compassionate community.
Ride For The Living is JCC Krakow’s largest annual fundraiser, and is completely funded by the friends and family of participants like you.