The Estonian Relief Committee in the USA (Eesti Abistamiskomitee USA-s) is celebrating 75 years of providing charitable support for fellow Estonians based on the public’s generous tax-deductible donations.
The organization was established in 1941 in New York by local Estonians seeking to aid their countrymen being impacted by World War II. The organization’s mission has evolved to (i) help Estonians in the motherland who are less fortunate, and (ii) maintain and promote our cultural heritage in the USA, especially with our youth.
The ERC is currently undertaking its annual Christmas fundraising drive. As an all-volunteer organization with a virtual office at the New York Estonian House and very low administrative overhead, the ERC will continue to grant 100% of received contributions to Estonian-related causes in Estonia and the U.S. For more information about the ERC and to contribute, please visit their website at www.estoreliefusa.org.
Historically, the hardships of World War II provided the impetus for establishing the organization. Troops, tanks and warplanes from communist Russia overran Estonia in 1939-40 under the guise that the Estonian people wanted to join the Soviet Union. Deportations of Estonian men, women and children to Siberia occurred soon after. The borders to Estonia were closed, contact was difficult and yet it was clear that financial help for Estonians was desperately needed. The idea for the Estonian Relief Committee is credited to the Estonian Consul to the U.S. Johannes Eduard Markus. The ERC became the first Estonian relief organization of its kind and served as a model for Estonian relief committees that sprang up in other countries throughout the world. The Estonian Relief Committee, Inc. in the U.S. was officially granted 501(c)3 designation as a non-profit charitable entity on October 31, 1942 “…to relieve and mitigate the suffering of Estonian citizens.”
From 1948-1952, the ERC helped the flood of Estonian refugees find homes in the free world, offered them financial aid, and insured they were treated justly. Together with the NY Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, the ERC enabled over 12,000 Estonians that were able to escape Russian occupation to immigrate to the USA between 1948-1952. The ERC matched immigrants with sponsors who provided jobs and living quarters for a set period of time. The ERC helped Estonians that crossed the ocean in small sailing vessels called “Viking boats” (an especially dangerous voyage) as well as those that spent time as “DPs” in displaced persons camps in Germany. In the 1950’s the ERC donated funds to Estonian children’s summer camps in Germany and provided seed money for the construction of an Estonian War Veterans Home in Germany. In the 1960’s, the ERC expanded its support to include Estonian youth groups and cultural activities in North America by helping to underwrite the Lakewood Estonian Girl and Boy Scout Jamborees of 1964 and 1967 (Koguja). In Germany, they donated to the Episcopal Grandparents Plan (Vaderabi) for Estonian children in Oldenburg. In the 1970s and 1980s the ERC used donations to send aid packages to needy Estonians via Sweden.
After Estonia regained its independence in the early 1990’s, the ERC continued supporting Estonian emigrants to the US and expanded its charitable activities to include: Estonian children’s hospitals, nursing homes, soup kitchens, indigent families with many children, the handicapped, and orphans caused by the sinking of the Tallinn-Helsinki ferry “Estonia” and the Estonian Association of Injured Soldiers. In the US, the ERC supports Estonian youth and cultural organizations such as the children’s camps in Lakewood and Long Island, the Estonian Boy and Girl Scouts, Estonian Educational Societies, Estonian Lutheran confirmation camp, folk-dancing groups and choruses and other cultural events.
Countless Estonians have served on the ERC board and as members since the organization’s inception in 1941. Past Presidents include: Salme Kaiv, Aleksandra Berg, Erich Harkna, Rudolf Kiviranna, Alfred Anderson, Paul Saar, Voldemar Vaher and Endel Reinpõld. Toomas Kilm has served as President since 2010. The current all-volunteer Board of Directors includes: Toomas Kilm – President; Helena Otsa – Vice President; Virve Vaher – Secretary General; Kaarel Laev – Treasurer; Karin Annus-Kärner and Liisa Sestrich – Directors.
Toomas Kilm,
ERC President
Grants provided in Estonia (2014-2016)
• SOS Children’s Villages in Estonia
• Tallinn Children’s Hospital Foundation
• Estonian Support Union of the Deaf-Blind
• Estonian Association of Injured Soldiers
• Valga Foodbank of the Domus Petri Kogu
• Collect Our Story – Unitas Foundation
• Kadrina Mixed Choir (U.S. Concert)
Grants provided in the U.S.A. (2014-2016)
• Estonian Men’s & Women’s Choirs in USA
• Estonian Folk Dancing Troops in USA
• Estonian Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in USA
• Federation of Assoc. for the Advancement of Estonian Youth (Järvemetsa campgrounds)
• LI Estonian Children’s Summer Camp
• LI Estonian Educational Society programs
• Northeast USA Estonian Children’s Singing and Confirmation Camps
• NY Estonian Educational Society programs
• Lakewood Estonian Association programs
• Estonian Archives in the USA
• Free Estonian Word programs
• 2014 Estonian Song and Dance Festival participation by USA groups
