(FJC.ru) The Jewish Community of Perm – a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia – is targeting disadvantaged and low-income families, especially single-parent households with many children, as well as pensioners, cope with the brutalities of a harsh Russian winter.

The project, administered by the community's humanitarian department, entails sending care packages to homesteads already hit hard by a challenging autumn. In many buildings, central heating was turned on only this week.

The first parcels, containing such items as housecoats, slippers, socks and other pieces of clothing, are destined to 20 elderly women in the community. Ludmila Zakharova, director of the Chesed Menachem Charity Center in Perm, is coordinating the effort.

"While the community has many humanitarian projects on the go, this one deals with the most urgent needs. We hope that these items bring not only physical, but also spiritual warmth to the recipients," said Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Zalman Deutch, the city's chief rabbi."We thank those who have donated their time and resources to this project. May their actions become examples to others."