News

Chornaya Padina, a tiny village in the Russian steppes, was a birthplace of dr. Joseph Kazickas. His family together with many more were exiled from Lithuania following the Insurrection of 1863. He spent only first 4 years of his life there, but stayed deeply committed to this place for the rest of his life. 

Happy Holidays and all the best in 2020 from the Kazickas Family Foundation!

Alexandra Kazickas Lithuanian School's students, teachers and parents together with the Eastern Long Island Lithuanian Community gathered to wish each other happy holidays. School's students shared a Lithuanian Winter story "Apšerkšniję mūsų žiemos" and reminded everyone to keep Belief, Love, Peace and Hope in our hearts not just on Christmas, but throughout the entire year.

On November 30th, International Women’s Association of Vilnius (IWAV) together with the representatives of more than 30 Embassies and International schools in Lithuania invited all to the 17th International Christmas Charity Bazaar at Vilnius Town Hall. The Bazaar that is supported by many generous sponsors grants all funds collected to the selected organizations that work to benefit the lives of children, women, elderly and disabled.

In 2012 the Kazickas Family Foundation established the Joseph P. Kazickas Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Yale to support the Baltic Studies program in the MacMillan Center's Council on European Studies. The Fellowship provides resources for visiting scholars and researchers from Lithuania to study at Yale and organize workshops and seminars on campus about issues relevant to the Baltic Sea region.

The Lithuanian Residency Emergency Department Directorship Familiarization Rotation, a seven step three year program to expose 22 Lithuanian Physicians training in the specialty of Emergency Medicine about how to manage and direct Emergency Medicine Departments in community hospitals in Lithuania, ended this fall.

Last week, November 20 - 21, 2019 Yale MacMillan Center hosted Baltic Studies Fellows reunion conference. This event brought to the Yale campus past scholars from Lithuania – those who received the Joseph P. Kazickas Fellowship – and from Latvia and Estonia – those who received the Juris Padegs Fellowship. At the conference, they discussed their scholarly work after their time spent at Yale.

"Bring Together Lithuania" 2020 summer internship program, initiated and sponsored by the Kazickas Family Foundation, invites students and recent graduates (ages 18-25) of Lithuanian descent to gain professional experience and rediscover modern Lithuania. 

Last Saturday, November 16th, a special guest, KFF Vilnius office director Agne Vertelkaite, stopped by at the Alexandra Kazickas Lithuanian School. It was one of many special places visited during her three week trip to the USA.

On the 30th of October, 260 “Youth Can” students, 20 coaches, 15 bus drivers, and 4 volunteers came to Kaunas with a goal to share the experiences, develop life skills during interesting activities, gain more valuable knowledge and have lots of fun together.