Their lives were forcibly taken from them during the Holocaust. The Blue Card ensures that needy Holocaust survivors don't lose their dignity again, in their last years.

Range in age from 79-105 years old

77% are women

67% cannot leave their homes without assistance

78% have difficulty performing daily activities such as dressing, washing, and cooking

Our Impact Since 1934

Over $40,000,000 grants given since inception

35 states served

$7M aid to survivors battling cancer

Active aiding 3000 holocaust survivor households

4200 volunteers mobilized in the United States

3M people served

4200 volunteers mobilized in the United States

$7M aid to survivors battling cancer

Deliver Hope To Survivors

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Who & How We Help

Helping the Most Vulnerable

The Mission of The Blue Card is to provide direct financial assistance to needy Holocaust Survivors.
Of the nearly 3000 Holocaust survivor households The Blue Card serves, three-quarters are over the age of 79 and nearly 70% live alone. Many of these survivors struggle to afford basic needs, such as adequate food and healthcare; more than half of them fall 200% below the federal poverty line, meaning their income is less than $24,980 annually9

Our Programs

Sponsors

The work of The Blue Card is supported by:

Frequently Asked Questions

The Mission of The Blue Card is to provide direct financial assistance to Holocaust survivors in need.

Financial assistance is available on a monthly basis for most basic needs, as well as for emergencies, such as medical and dental care, special equipment, rent and utility shut offs.

​The Blue Card supports over 3,000 Holocaust survivors in over 35 states through the following core programs:

  1. Emergency Cash Assistance Program: provides for survivors’ most immediate needs by helping with the cost of medicine, rent, homecare, food and other essentials. The Holocaust Survivor Emergency Cash Assistance Program is funded by the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
  2. Dental Program: provides much-needed funding toward dental care, especially in a time of federal budget cuts.
  3. Stipend Program: supports the most poverty-stricken survivors with monthly checks.
  4. Jewish Holiday Program: provides support for the High Holidays, Hanukkah and for Passover, giving survivors the financial means to have a happier holiday season.
  5. Summer Vacation Program: offers a free summer vacation program to needy survivors in the New York area. Survivors are provided with handicapped-accessible accommodations, transportation, scheduled meals, and a well-planned itinerary, making the program structured, safe, and group-oriented.
  6. The Emergency Response Program: provides the system to Holocaust survivors who do not have the financial resources to pay for installation, service, and maintenance. From the start, the system is programmed in the survivor’s native language be it Yiddish, German, Russian, Hungarian, or any language that the survivor speaks. In case of an emergency such as a fall, the survivor presses a button (either around the neck or on the wrist), activating an automated speakerphone. The operator answers in the survivor’s native language, asking if there is a need for an ambulance to be sent to the home, and then follows up on the emergency.
  7. Mazel Tov Birthday Program: provides survivors with a check and a card on their birthday. Receiving a birthday card means a great deal to survivors who lost their entire families during the war.
  8. Vitamins Program: provides Holocaust survivors with multivitamins, minerals, and supplements, and liquid meals.
  9. Bring a Smile Program: named after Sonia and Max Lonstein, provides additional support for terminally ill Holocaust survivors. The program essentially grants survivors their final wish.
  10. The Siggi B. Wilzig Fighting Cancer Together Program: offers aid to Holocaust survivors battling cancer. Assistance is available for transportation to appointments, medical co-pays, nutrition and emotional support.
  11. The Blue Card-Lissner Hospital Visitation Program: offers volunteer visits to hospitalized Holocaust survivors who need guidance and emotional support.
  12. The Nutritional Guidance Program: provides monthly food stipends and nutritional supplements. It also educates participants on proper nutrition.
  13. LIFTWARE Utensils – Liftware is an electronic stabilizing handle and a selection of attachments that include a soup spoon, everyday spoon, fork, and spork. Liftware Steady is designed to help people with hand tremor, which may be related to Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor, eat more easily. Holocaust survivors suffering with Parkinson’s Disease and other debilitating illnesses benefit tremendously from this special stabilizing unit.
  14. Mood Restore Light Box – Intelligent Light Therapy – A special, compact and portable, UV free unit provides much needed light therapy to Holocaust survivors. In addition to effectively treating Season Affective Disorders (SAD), the Mood Restore Light Box, improves visual clarity and color rendering, as well as offset season weather and climate changes, and helps support the circadian rhythm regulation. This light box works wonders for thousands of our lonely survivors especially those who are shut-ins and are home-bound during the colder winter days.
  15. Companion Pets – Companion pets bring comfort and happiness to the older population with interactive, cats and dogs that replicate the look, sounds and feel of real pets.  Many studies have found that these pets have the ability to enhance one’s well-being and quality of life through companionship.
  16. Uniper Cares Combating Social Isolation Program – We are pleased to announce that The Blue Card will strengthen its relationship with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies (NJHSA) by working together on a groundbreaking project which will utilize technology to address the challenging dynamic of senior isolation. The program will support home-bound Holocaust survivors and will utilize broadcast and video technology developed by Uniper Cares, a start-up company with roots in Israel.

​The Blue Card is the only organization in the United States whose sole mission is to aid needy Holocaust survivors by providing them with financial support. The Blue Card is unique in that it provides both long-term ongoing support and emergency grants for basic human needs in the most caring way possible. Help is given in the form of cash grants issued directly to the client or to the provider of vital goods and services. The grants are issued towards providing food, medical care, health care, dental care, crisis and ongoing psychotherapy, health insurance, prescription drugs, personal emergency response system, housing, transportation, and various one-time emergencies.

The Blue Card provides financial assistance to Holocaust survivors and victims of Nazi Persecution.

The Blue Card clients profile:

  • Range in age from 79-105 years old
  • 78% have difficulty performing daily activities such as dressing, washing, and cooking
  • 77% are women
  • 67% cannot leave their homes without assistance

​100% of individual donations directly support Holocaust survivors in need.

​The best way to contribute to Holocaust Remembrance Day is by participating in events, donating to a charity that helps Holocaust survivors, talking about the Holocaust and knowing their story, and bringing awareness to the Holocaust survivors who still need assistance today. The more awareness there is about the Holocaust and the survivors still alive today, the more we can help them and make sure the Holocaust never happens again.

​The best way to deliver cards to Holocaust survivors is to mail the cards to The Blue Card office.

The easiest way to donate to The Blue Card is through our website, www.BlueCardFund.org. Many create fundraisers through Crowdrise, Facebook, and Instagram and ask family and friends to donate as well. Many employers have a matching program that can double a donation as well. Anyone can also donate while shopping with PaypalAmazon, and eBay. A donor is welcomed to send a check to The Blue Card office at 171 Madison Avenue, Suite 1405, New York, NY 10016. Another form of donations we take are stock donations, and bequeathing to The Blue Card a donation in a will.

The Blue Card participates in a number of marathons in the United States and all over the world each year. The Blue Card was one of the first Jewish Charities to be an Official Charity Partner for the TCS NYC Marathon in 2009, helping to pave the way for other Charities. Team Blue Card is also an Official Charity Partner in the Miami Half and Full Marathon and in the TD Five Boro Bike Tour since 2011, and in the NYC Triathlon since 2015. 

These marathons are so big, inspiring and motivating that runners from all over the world come to join. Team Blue Card participants come from England, Italy, Israel, Argentina, Germany, Austria, France, Mexico, South Africa, and more countries. Members of Team Blue Card have also participated in marathons in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Germany, Italy and other cities worldwide.

Team Blue Card runners fundraise for The Blue Card and Holocaust survivors while participating in endurance events. Thanks to their commitment and dedication, Team Blue Card raised over $2,000,000 since 2009. We also encourage anyone running their own marathon to fundraise for The Blue Card and Holocaust survivors.

The Blue Card assists Holocaust survivors through direct and indirect financial assistance for rent, food, medical and dental expenses, hearing aids, small home improvements to help survivors stay independent in their homes, and prevention programs. The programs include:

  • Emergency Cash Assistance Program: provides for survivors’ most immediate needs by helping with the cost of medicine, rent, homecare, food and other essentials. The Holocaust Survivor Emergency Cash Assistance Program is funded by the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
  • Dental Program: provides much-needed funding toward dental care, especially in a time of federal budget cuts.
  • Stipend Program: supports the most poverty-stricken survivors with monthly checks.
  • Jewish Holiday Program: provides support for the High Holidays, Hanukkah and for Passover, giving survivors the financial means to have a happier holiday season.
  • Summer Vacation Program: offers a free summer vacation program to needy survivors in the New York area. Survivors are provided with handicapped-accessible accommodations, transportation, scheduled meals, and a well-planned itinerary, making the program structured, safe, and group-oriented.
  • The Emergency Response Program: provides the system to Holocaust survivors who do not have the financial resources to pay for installation, service, and maintenance. From the start, the system is programmed in the survivor’s native language be it Yiddish, German, Russian, Hungarian, or any language that the survivor speaks. In case of an emergency such as a fall, the survivor presses a button (either around the neck or on the wrist), activating an automated speakerphone. The operator answers in the survivor’s native language, asking if there is a need for an ambulance to be sent to the home, and then follows up on the emergency.
  • Mazel Tov Birthday Program: provides survivors with a check and a card on their birthday. Receiving a birthday card means a great deal to survivors who lost their entire families during the war.
  • Vitamins Program: provides Holocaust survivors with multivitamins, minerals, and supplements, and liquid meals.
  • Bring a Smile Program: named after Sonia and Max Lonstein, provides additional support for terminally ill Holocaust survivors. The program essentially grants survivors their final wish.
  • The Siggi B. Wilzig Fighting Cancer Together Program: offers aid to Holocaust survivors battling cancer. Assistance is available for transportation to appointments, medical co-pays, nutrition and emotional support.
  • The Blue Card-Lissner Hospital Visitation Program: offers volunteer visits to hospitalized Holocaust survivors who need guidance and emotional support.
  • The Nutritional Guidance Program: provides monthly food stipends and nutritional supplements. It also educates participants on proper nutrition.
  • LIFTWARE Utensils – Liftware is an electronic stabilizing handle and a selection of attachments that include a soup spoon, everyday spoon, fork, and spork. Liftware Steady is designed to help people with hand tremor, which may be related to Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor, eat more easily. Holocaust survivors suffering with Parkinson’s Disease and other debilitating illnesses benefit tremendously from this special stabilizing unit.
  • Mood Restore Light Box – Intelligent Light Therapy – A special, compact and portable, UV free unit provides much needed light therapy to Holocaust survivors. In addition to effectively treating Season Affective Disorders (SAD), the Mood Restore Light Box, improves visual clarity and color rendering, as well as offset season weather and climate changes, and helps support the circadian rhythm regulation. This light box works wonders for thousands of our lonely survivors especially those who are shut-ins and are home-bound during the colder winter days.
  • Companion Pets – Companion pets bring comfort and happiness to the older population with interactive, cats and dogs that replicate the look, sounds and feel of real pets.  Many studies have found that these pets have the ability to enhance one’s well-being and quality of life through companionship.
  • Uniper Cares Combating Social Isolation Program – We are pleased to announce that The Blue Card will strengthen its relationship with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies (NJHSA) by working together on a groundbreaking project which will utilize technology to address the challenging dynamic of senior isolation. The program will support home-bound Holocaust survivors and will utilize broadcast and video technology developed by Uniper Cares, a start-up company with roots in Israel.
  1. FreeStyle Libre – The Freestyle Libre 2 system continuously measures glucose data every minute with customizable, optional real time alarms to alert the user when their glucose is high or low without scanning. The unit gives people with diabetes excellent accuracy and actionable information to better manage their condition.
The Blue Card is always happy to welcome anyone who would like to volunteer and help Holocaust survivors in need. Anyone who would like to volunteer can reach out to us at Info@BlueCardFund.org and request a Volunteer Application.

The Blue Card appreciates donations of all sizes which helps support our mission of helping Holocaust survivors in need. 

Many Holocaust survivors live alone and are not very social, having little to no family because of the horrors of the Holocaust. Because of this, there are many Holocaust survivors that appreciate when people call and visit them. However, many are shy when it comes to visitors because of their financial hardships or they do not want people to know that they are receiving assistance from The Blue Card. For those survivors, we have created the Virtual Volunteering program where people can record videos and collect videos from family and friends. These videos are sent to Holocaust survivors to watch and enjoy, so they know that people are still thinking of them.

The main way a donor can provide ongoing assistance is by donating monthly to The Blue Card. These funds go to specific programs to ensure that we can continue helping Holocaust survives monthly to live with dignity and respect. Anyone can donate at https://bluecardfund.org/become-involved/donate/
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