Mechel is referring to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known as the "Joint".  The Joint is one of the unsung heroes of this episode of Jewish survival.  When it became known that there were Jews trapped in Siberia, the Joint compiled lists of names and strove to help, including the sending of aid packages.   Textiles were included in the packages, since the Americans had learned that these were tradable goods in Russian economy.  I would like to thank my nephew Benjamin Kaufman for finding Mechel’s and Aryeh’s Leib’s names in the Joint archives.

Note that the list mentions three children with Asher Barber.  There were only two: Ben and Dora.  Their brother was killed by the SS in Poland at the beginning of the War.  It may be that Asher did not send this terrible news to his wife, who had been traveling in the US at the time the War broke out and remained there for the duration.