WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Standing with Ukraine, several local organizations planned a night of music and hope in West Hartford to show their support.
"Music just soothes the soul to begin with," said Rabbi Donna Berman, executive director of the Charter Oak Cultural Center. It's both I think comforting for people, inspiring for people so that they can do even more hopefully when they leave this place," she said.
For the Ukrainian community in Connecticut, it was a chance to show off some of their culture while giving everyone a place to come together in solidarity.
"It's also an opportunity for people to be together and feel the warmth of each other and the comfort of each other because I think people are really very frightened," Berman said.
"It says everything when people come together from all of these different backgrounds to say we care about each other no matter what our differences are and when you wrong one person, you wrong us all," said West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor.
That sense of togetherness and willingness to help has not gone unnoticed by those with ties to Ukraine. Though weeks have gone by and there is a long road ahead, they're still seeing the same energy from people wanting to do something, finding creative ways to keep the focus on the need for help.
"There's been no evidence of support waning so we're very grateful for all of the people of Connecticut who have been so supportive over the last several weeks," said Alex Kuzma with the Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation.
The funds raised from the benefit concert are going to three organizations on the ground in Ukraine, making sure everything gets exactly where it needs to go.
The organizations are the Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and Razom for Ukraine.
"At this point, it's best just to make direct donations because they're folks that can purchase those critical medical supplies. The body armor, the tourniquets, all the life-saving equipment that they need," Kuzma said. "They know what they're doing, they're on the ground, they're doing amazing work," he said.
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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