The war in Ukraine shows no signs of letting up, and neither does support from Three Pines Studio for Ukrainian refugees.
The Cross Village art studio has been making Ukrainian tea towels and dolls to raise funds for the World Central Kitchen, a non-profit stationed along the Ukrainian border, serving hot meals to hungry refugees.
Three Pines Studio has now sent $50,000 to aid in the relief effort.
The owner of Three Pines Studio, Joann Condino, says the community support to help make products has been overwhelming.
"I have individuals sewing in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Cross Village, Good Heart, all the way to Texas and Plymouth, Michigan," said Condino.
Condino added her studio is making around 100 wood blocked tea towels per day, all by hand, and it's been hard to keep up with demand.
"And we beg people to please have patience," Condino said jokingly. "We are working very, very hard. This is not a machine production line. This is two women working very, very hard, soon to have tendinitis for all the work."
Last week, the Lyric Theatre in Harbor Springs was granted early access to screen “We Feed People,” a Ron Howard documentary featuring the World Central Kitchen.
The event served as a fundraiser and generated an additional $20,000 dollars for World Central Kitchen.
Matt Bugera owns the New York Restaurant in Harbor Springs. He’s been using the Ukrainian tea towels in his bread baskets to help get the word out about the towels and the mission of World Central Kitchen.
Bugera says the words of lead chef Jose Andres was inspiring.
"He says, Red Cross, and all these big outfits, they take so long to mobilize, where in a restaurant situation, we work in chaos every day," said Bugera.
Bugera’s grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine and he plans to continue finding ways to support the people of Ukraine.
In the interest of transparency, we note the New York Restaurant is a financial supporter of WCMU.
