About Us / Endorsement
CCRDF is a truly remarkable organization that has set new standards for international development and relief efforts. When I think of all that you have done over the years to bring attention to the aftermath of Chornobyl, and to provide very tangible relief and medical assistance to the children, it really is an example of the best in America. I hope you know that what you are doing is not only important to CCRDF and not only to the people of Ukraine and to others who have been affected by Chornobyl. It really is a value statement for who we are as Americans, what we believe our obligations to be, and our willingness to use our blessings on behalf of those who are far away.
US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) April 19, 1999
Since 1990, the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund has built a distinguished record in humanitarian relief and hospital development. It is my honor to extend personal congratulations on this noteworthy achievement… CCRDF’s determination to provide support for the people of Ukraine, as well as their ability to understand language, customs, and political situations has created a highly effective organization…
Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R-New Jersey) (currently EPA Commissioner) March 23, 1995
We greatly respect the important work being done by the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund. We hope that we will have more opportunities to partner with you on work in Ukraine in the future.
Dr. Daniel Hryhorczuk, Director of Great Lakes Centers for Occupational and Environmental Safety & Health, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, May 10, 2002
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the recent shipment of our eye care centers. Rabbi Wilhelm from Zhitomir and my executive board were sincerely impressed with the professionalism and care that your organization showed in handling the shipment. I would like to give special thanks to Olena Welhasch who was so helpful and pleasant to work with. I am looking forward to working together on future projects.
Rabbi Benjy Brackman, Director of Tsivos Hashem, January 25, 2001
I want to challenge the international medical community to come to Kyiv, to Vynnytsia, to Chernihiv. To take a look at the babies lying in the neonatal intensive care units established by CCRDF. Look into the glare of the infant warmers and under the photo-therapeutic lamps and see what kinds of babies are being born in the aftermath of Chornobyl. Take a look in the orphanages and the pediatric cancer centers where children are being treated for tumors and conditions that are virtually unheard of in the West.
Actor Alec Baldwin, at CCRDF Fundraiser on April 19, 1999
Once again, I am writing to confirm and reestablish our ongoing cooperative efforts in providing humanitarian assistance to the people of the Newly Independent States (NIS), this time in Ukraine where you have done such outstanding work in the past. As always, it is a pleasure to do business with you and to continue a mutual partnership with a highly professional private volunteer organization like the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund dedicated to providing critically needed assistance to the people of Ukraine. The service you perform is one of the most efficient uses of US government Freedom Support Act funds that I can envision and is just what our Congress had in mind when it made transportation and grant dollars available for the delivery of donated commodities to the NIS.
Charles R. Hardesty, Director of Humanitarian Assistance to the NIS US State Department, February 25, 1999
Congratulations on your recent award… Your devotion and drive have truly benefited the people of Ukraine, notably children suffering from the aftermath of Chornobyl. You are models that all Americans can look towards for inspiration and commitment to proceed for just causes…
Jaroslav I. Dutkewych, Country Director, Peace Corps Kyiv, Ukraine, August 28, 1996
Based on its extensive track record, I believe that the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund is in an excellent position to deliver medication to this region… With its network of bilingual US physicians, the Fund may well have more expertise than virtually any other private voluntary group that might be assigned to handle this problem… The Fund has delivered more than 25 million dollars’ worth of aid, on a total income of 1.6 million. I would like to see more USAID grantees achieve this sort of multiplier effect in their procurement programs, on such minimal overhead costs.
Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman (R-New York) Chairman Committee on Foreign Affairs, April 28, 1995
Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund has developed an impressive track record in combating the disastrous effects of the Chornobyl accident, and in upgrading the quality of care in many Ukrainian medical institutions.
Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California) and Congressman John Edwards Porter (R-Illinois) in a joint letter April 28, 1994
Here the signs of Western aid are present everywhere and so are its results. When other hospitals give up on their young patients, they send them here. This hospital is their last hope, and in many cases it is their best one… quite possibly, this is the finest hospital in the former Soviet Union.
News correspondent Martin Savidge, August 20, 1992 in a feature story on CCRDF, reporting from the Lviv Pediatric Medical Center in Western Ukraine
The Children of Chornobyl Hospital opened a year and a half ago, and is funded primarily through the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund in the United States. This is the best equipped hospital in Lviv, and possibly in Ukraine, due to this Western support.
Report to the American International Hospital Alliance, July 12, 1992 issued by a fact finding team from the US Agency for International Development