Local support for Ukraine continues
What started as a social media post of Mike Pawk pouring out bottles of Russian vodka in support of Ukraine has evolved into a fundraising effort earning tens of thousands of dollars for relief charities.
An event at the Lyndora Hotel on Saturday put the money raised for the Pittsburgh-based Brother’s Brother Foundation over $40,000 — an amount Pawk, one of the owners of the Lyndora Hotel, said gave him an “unexplainable” feeling.
“It has been great,” he said. “It has brought a lot of pride out of people, and I saw that in the two fundraisers we have had.”
Saturday’s event at the Lyndora Hotel resembled a block party, where guests could get food prepared by members of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church on the first floor, and then go to the second floor to bet on raffle baskets and hear live music, played throughout the day. Pawk said the owners scheduled the event after its previous fundraiser for Ukraine on March 9 received such a huge response that they had to turn people away.
Pawk said Cindy Hilderbrand, a business owner from Chicora, helped get more than 60 raffle baskets from businesses around the county to auction off at the event. Money spent on raffle baskets, T-shirts and food would be donated to the foundation, and Pawk said donations flowed in from $50 to $100 at a time.
“People really want to do something, they want to help,” Pawk said. “When the donations are people giving $50 or $100 bills, it all adds up fast.”
Hilderbrand said she and her husband, Brent Hilderbrand, wanted to get involved in the fundraising because it was the right thing to do. Seeing their support echoed back by people attending the fundraiser was “expressionless,“ she said.
“They said ‘We can make more money, they need it more than we do,’” she said people making donations told her Saturday. “It's a prideful feeling that you live in a county where everybody wants to help out.”
Pawk also said the members of the Ukrainian church were integral to the event, having spent Wednesday and Thursday whipping up thousands of traditional Ukrainian foods, like kiffles, pierogies and halupki for patrons to try, many for the first time.
Laura Santoro, Pawk’s sister and another owner of the Lyndora Hotel, said she was amazed at the contributions made by the Ukrainiann church’s volunteers.
“I cannot emphasize how much the Ukrainian Catholic Church was in helping with the event,” Santoro said. “We did not know them and they showed up and they made 1,700 halupki. The community pulled together for us.”
Seeing the response from people wanting to help in the Ukrainian conflict has been rewarding for Pawk and Santoro as well, and they said Saturday’s event likely won’t be their last fundraising effort.
Pawk said the hotel owners are going to recharge for a few weeks before embarking on another endeavor to help the Ukrainian people.
“We're hoping to do more for sure, because I agree, I don't see the end of this conflict,” Pawk said. “We'll continue to do whatever we can.”
