For all that ailed the children of Zhitomir, their impoverished parents had little to offer but a tender hug, a cool compress, and a visit to an overcrowded clinic that had little medicine and even fewer diagnostic tools. Then the Marcia Wilf and Ira Yavarkovsky Children’s Medical Clinic opened. Up-to-date medicines, medical diagnostic and treatment protocols – commonplace in America and miraculous in Zhitomir – were made available for free. These modern medical techniques were urgently needed in Zhitomir, which is just a two-hour drive from Chernobyl. Memories of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl may fade as the decades pass but the shock waves of its life-threatening effects still bring illnesses, mysterious and crippling, in their wake. In addition, a special circumcision suite allows Jewish men and boys to enter the covenant in a safe, pain-managed environment. The care given at the medical clinic to Jewish and non-Jewish children alike has won accolades from international humanitarian groups.

The clinic has grown into a resource for the entire Zhitomir region. American doctors are flown in for week long health missions. Once there, the doctors share their expertise by treating ill children and hosting medical conferences to apprise area doctors of important advances and healing techniques.