Images from Ukraine and its fight for survival against Russia tug at the heartstrings of Americans, and those wishing to donate to relief organizations might have a hard time choosing.

A hunger-fighting group in the Midwest said it can quickly put support to good use.

The Midwest Food Bank recently began shipping its "Tender Mercies" meals to Europe. One of its partner organizations has a large facility there, making it easier to get the meals to Ukrainians who have fled their home country.

Mike Hoffman, inventory and logistics director for the Midwest Food Bank, said having the logistics in place hopefully makes it easier for people not sure about where to send their donation.

"It's not just sending food in, it's having the whole chain covered," Hoffman explained. "And in the end, the people are getting it that really need it."

Those who donate to the effort can allow Midwest Food Bank to prepare more meals for shipment. The Tender Mercies packages focus heavily on nutritional components such as rice and beans with chicken flavoring. Each meal shipment contains about 240,000 servings.

Hoffman added the Midwest Food Bank is consistently rated highly by the independent evaluator Charity Navigator. He hopes it is another reason to compel more people to donate to the effort. He pointed out the meals will provide substantial nutrition for individuals dealing with a lot of stress and uncertainty for the foreseeable future.

"This isn't anything that's going to be ... as soon as the war is over, everything's gonna be fine," Hoffman stressed.

He emphasized the humanitarian effort to help those recover will be a long process. Several million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began.

As college anti-war protests enter a second school year, students are maintaining pressure on administrators to cut all financial ties with the Israeli government.

Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to all weapons research funded by Israeli defense contractor, Elbit.

Recent MIT graduate Andrew Feldman, who is Jewish and is a member of MIT Jews for Collective Liberation, said it's important for people of conscience to speak out against the war.

"We're going to keep working," said Feldman, "and we hope that institutions will start to recognize this terrible genocide, and war crimes that Israel is committing on the Palestinians."

Feldman said MIT should also end partnerships with Maersk, a shipping and logistics company critical to the Israeli war effort.

MIT students celebrated the recent closure of an industry-backed fund for weapons research as a win, but MIT officials maintain the fund was already due to expire.

Some have criticized the campus pro-Palestinian protests as anti-Semitic, and said Israel has the right to defend itself as it sees fit.

The White House has expressed frustration that the right-wing Israeli government and the leadership of Hamas have refused to reach a ceasefire. But protest groups argue U.S. arms are enabling the war.

Continued student protests at Brown University in neighboring Rhode Island convinced administrators to bring a divestment proposal to a vote at Brown Corporation Board's meeting next month.

Students aim to cut school ties with at least ten companies providing Israel with weapons and surveillance systems.

Mica Maltzman is a senior and member of the campus group, BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now. She said students are busy compiling testimony and preparing to make their case.

"It's both an urgent issue and it feels like a morally pertinent issue on our campus right now," said Maltzman, "letting the corporation know that this isn't just like some group of radical students pushing for divestment, but like a large majority."

Maltzman said Brown has a long history of student protest, including a student-led divestment campaign against the former apartheid government in South Africa - but that administrators have been less supportive of dissent against Israel.

She said knowing thousands of students in Gaza can no longer attend college there, it's hard not to wake up and think about it everyday.

Israel began its war against Hamas after the militant group attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 Israelis while another 250 people were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 40,000 Palestinians, have been killed by the Israeli military, according to health authorities.




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Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, now the GOP's vice-presidential candidate, cited campaign commitments as his reason for not attending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress on Wednesday. Many lawmakers of both parties also boycotted the speech because of their stance on Netanyahu's leadership.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said in a post on X that "I don't feel like being a prop so I won't be attending," arguing that the speech is an attempt to boost the prime minister's domestic political standing.

Kent State student Yaseen Shaikh traveled to protest the visit, calling it a charade and noting the visit comes at a unique time for Americans, too.

"The timing of the elections in relation to this visit couldn't be more interesting. It's become a lot about kissing up to Netanyahu and the Israeli lobby to influence this election as well as to influence Netanyahu's PR in Israel. We know the theatrics," Shaikh said.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also missed the address but have a planned meeting to discuss cease-fire operations in the Middle East today. And Netanyahu plans to meet GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Friday.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson invited the P.M. to come to Congress in light of student demonstrations around the country, but some student groups participated in counter events at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., spoke at an event called "Peace is Possible: An Alternative Vision for Israel and Palestine" as Netanyahu delivered his speech.

Ohio Student Association member Aimee Flores said funds should go toward student debt relief and affordable education rather than on weapons for Israel.

"There is absolutely no reason that Ohio citizens should be living below the poverty line, having to worry about predatory student loans, or issues of homelessness or unhousing, when we are able to invest thousands or millions of dollars overseas into funding a genocide," Flores said.

As the political tension surrounding the speech continues, the impact of these events on upcoming elections remains to be seen. Palestinian activist Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli peace activist Maoz Inon gave a message of hope at the counter event. Both lost family members since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.


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CLARIFICATION: Parts of this story were rephrased to clarify that the United States does not send nuclear weapons to Israel or any other nation. (12:32 p.m. MDT, July 8, 2024)

A Knoxville-based environmental group is sounding the alarm about the country's increased spending on weapons being deployed in defense of Israel.

The proposed U.S. defense budget allocates over $60 billion for nuclear weapons programs, a 4% increase over the previous year.

Tanvi Kardile with the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance said a $14 billion package was passed recently to provide additional weapons to Israel.

The alliance isn't taking sides in the conflict in Gaza, and supports calls for divestment from all nuclear weapons.

"The U.S. budget for weapons just keeps getting higher and higher each year," said Kardile. "This year, there's an $850 billion defense budget. And this has gone up by 31% from last year, and $69 billion of those would go for nuclear weapons operations."

U.S. policy is not to send American nuclear weapons to any other nation. And although most experts say Israel has its own nuclear arms, the nation has never admitted it.

American nuclear arms - including submarine missiles - have been deployed in the Mediterranean and could be used in defense of Israel. The U.S. also supplies it with extensive, conventional weapons.

Kardile said the alliance sees the increase in spending as a taxpayer burden, and notes the government could be using those dollars for healthcare, education, public transportation, and fighting homelessness - which would help people in Tennessee and across the country.

Besides the tax implications, Kardile said her group is concerned with the ongoing risks closer to home - tied to enriching uranium and other activities at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

She added that the projected cost of expanding the facility is up to $9.3 billion.

"It's also a big burden on the people of Tennessee because it is a public health risk, environmental risk as well," said Kardile. "So, this issue directly affects Tennesseans."

The U.S. Department of Energy says the Y-12 complex "plays a key role in strengthening national security," and that nuclear weapons are a deterrent to the nation's enemies.

But Kardile said major defense contractors have seen their stock prices skyrocket as they continue to profit from the war in Gaza, and from weapons sales in general.