New York–The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is responding to the devastating earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10, causing widespread loss of life, injuries, and destruction. Working with Colombia’s Jewish community and local partners, JDC is helping address urgent needs, including supporting the Anne Frank Pediatric Ward in Cali, a program founded by the local Jewish community that serves vulnerable children from all backgrounds. The ward sustained damage in the earthquake but continues to provide care. To support JDC’s relief efforts for those affected by the earthquake in Colombia, please visit: JDC.org/ColombiaEarthquake2026.
JDC quickly mobilized after the earthquake to identify urgent needs with Jewish community leaders. That rapid response was made possible by decades of engagement with the Confederación de Comunidades Judías de Colombia (CCJC) and local Jewish communities through leadership development initiatives for Jewish communal professionals and assistance to institutions such as Bogotá’s Beit Avot senior residence.
In Cali, home to approximately 260 Jewish families and among the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, demand for emotional and mental health support has surged. JDC has helped expand services at Lev Hebraica, a community mental health program.
As part of its disaster recovery efforts, JDC is assisting the Anne Frank Pediatric Ward at the University Hospital of Valle in Cali, a facility created and sustained by the local Jewish community that has offered specialized care to low-income children for more than 60 years. The earthquake damaged the ward’s building, forcing a temporary relocation. JDC is providing essential medical and hygiene supplies, helping ensure continuity of care for approximately 150 hospitalized children and their families, and assisting efforts to restore a permanent location. The ward reflects the Colombian Jewish community’s longstanding commitment to serving the broader society, with members of the community actively engaged in various response and recovery activities.
The disaster relief programs of JDC are funded by its Disaster Fund, special appeals from the Jewish Federations of North America, and tens of thousands of individual donors to JDC. JDC’s relief efforts are coordinated with local and international partners.
JDC, which leads the Jewish community response to disaster and international development crises worldwide, has responded to the recent earthquake in Venezuela and earthquakes in Myanmar, Turkey, Morocco, and Haiti, the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa and Asia, as well as natural disasters in Jamaica, Mozambique, the Bahamas, Guatemala, Indonesia, and Mexico.
JDC also leads the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR), comprising 49 mostly North American Jewish organizations that address disasters and development challenges worldwide.
