How do I know the money will reach the people who really need it?

This is a legitimate concern and one we take very seriously. There is a great deal of corruption in the former Soviet Union at all levels of government. Our sources tell us that millions of dollars of financial aid from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other sources has been diverted to the Russian crime syndicates and other crooked profiteers. Those who need help the most—the elderly and unemployed, those who are ill, and the handicapped—see very little of the money, if any at all. Even certain banks in Russia have been known to "lose" large sums of money wired into the country for relief work.

For security reasons, we cannot provide details about money transfers and other techniques we use in dispensing the aid. However, we can tell you that the key to getting the assistance to the people who really need it is using our own staff members in the former Soviet Union. We don’t trust anyone else—especially the government—to do it for us. We work through our own network of volunteer workers and CJFM missionaries, most of whom we have trained personally, to make sure the assistance actually reaches those for whom it is intended.

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