A group of 13 volunteers from the Northwest Yeshiva High School (NYHS) community heeded the call to lend a hand in Romania during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Mercer Island group — which featured 11 seniors, their Head of School Jason Feld and operations manager Hadas Rosenberg — were part of an emergency NCSY Relief volunteer mission to help 300 Ukrainian children adjust while their entire orphanage in Odessa was evacuated and relocated to Neptun, Romania, due to the war.

According to Melissa Rivkin of the Seattle-based Samis Foundation, which helped sponsor the trip with emergency funding, there was a “severe shortage of volunteers and staff to work with hundreds of children ranging in age from newborn to 16.”

Rivkin said this is NCSY’s first Romanian relief mission, which took shape when the Orthodox Union contacted NCSY — a Jewish teen relief organization — and its Rabbi Ethan Katz asked Feld if the locals could take part in the mission. The NYHS group flew out of Seattle on May 22 and helped with the orphans’ transition to their new home near the Black Sea coast for eight days. The mission was organized with 10 days’ notice, according to Rivkin.

While the NYHS senior class was participating in a five-day service project with NCSY Relief last month to help rebuild the neighborhood in the Lower 9th Ward section of New Orleans, Feld learned of the urgent need for volunteers in Romania, according to NYHS’s Beth Jacoby.

Rivkin added that Tikva Children’s Home, a Jewish aid organization for orphaned children in the Ukraine, reached out for volunteers and that set the mission in motion.

The NYHS seniors are Anna Benoliel, Galit Berezansky, Zeeke Clayman, Harrison Feld, Esti Katzevman, Yoel Kintzer, Victor Maimon, Eliana Menashe, Edee Polyakovsky, Simon Rosenbaum and Simone Sandorffy.

Harrison Feld said at times it felt like they were not only at an orphanage, but part of a community since there were staff members and families present as well. During their time in Neptun, they joined together with the others for prayer time and observing Shabbat. They built relationships along the way.

Neptun sits 210 miles away from Odessa and Feld said, “We felt safe while we were there. I think beforehand we were assured that everything would be OK, which it was.”

The NYHS students knew they were involved in a big and important mission, said Feld, noting that he expected them to enter a scene with a bit more sadness.

“When we got there, it was a really happy environment. I think we brought a lot of that,” Feld said of the kids smiling after all they’ve been through.

Rosenberg gained inspiration seeing the students devote themselves to the experience by caring for and supporting the children.

“To be part of that was special, to see that was special, and also to be involved in that as well,” Rosenberg said.

For Maimon, it felt good to put smiles on the kids’ faces during a tough situation by holding carnivals, playing games and forming connections.

“We were a group of kids from Seattle that flew to Romania, where they barely even knew where Seattle was, and we were able to make a difference,” said Maimon, who spoke mostly in Hebrew to the children, who are of the Jewish faith.

At one point, Maimon and Harrison Feld spotted one child crying and alone and tried to speak to him using a translator program. Feld also played “Baby Shark” in Russian — the kids’ primary language — while dancing and acting silly around the boy.

“We weren’t necessarily able to figure out and talk through his feelings, but what we were able to do was just to make the kid feel loved and give him attention and make him happy,” Maimon said.

Some sadness has set in for Berezansky, who misses the kids.

If the NYHS group didn’t grasp the opportunity when called upon, “Then these kids wouldn’t have anybody to play with. These kids wouldn’t have the experiences that we gave them,” she said.

Kids latched onto Berezansky, who’s fluent in Russian and was able to connect with them on a deep level.

“I heard a lot of distressing stories. There was this one girl that told me that the first bomb that hit near their building, their windows completely shattered and she could feel shaking from the apartment. She still has trouble watching the news because whenever she sees it, she feels herself shaking,” Berezansky said.

Berezansky said they needed to be there to give the kids a space to share their stories and help them begin their journey to healing. They have a lot to say and want someone to listen to them, she added.

One of many bright spots for Berezansky was discussing baking with one girl, and that reminded the NYHS student of her sister who also enjoys baking.

After the kids finished school by 1 p.m., they couldn’t wait to partake in the activities the visiting group had planned for them, Berezansky added with a smile of her own.

Eli Genauer, Samis board chair, discussed the NYHS students going on the mission to Neptun: “We’re proud of the students at NYHS for responding to this call for help and we, at Samis, are honored to play a small role in supporting this mission. The Ukraine crisis, and its impact on the Jewish and greater community there, is exactly what the disaster relief fund was created for. I have no doubt that Sam Israel would be thrilled to know that his legacy, through the Samis Foundation, is funding a volunteer mission led by high school students from right here on Mercer Island.”

Northwest Yeshiva High School senior Yoel Kintzer reads with a Ukrainian orphan in Neptun, Romania. Courtesy photo

Northwest Yeshiva High School seniors Yoel Kintzer, Victor Maimon and Shimon Rosenbaum play with Ukrainian orphans on the beach in Neptun, Romania. Courtesy photo