UNITED24 charity dinner raises $635,000 to rebuild school in Ukraine
UNITED24 and Richard Branson recently hosted a charity dinner in New York City at Virgin Hotels, with support from Virgin Unite. Funds raised will help rebuild a school in Marianivka, Kyiv Oblast, which was damaged during the hostilities and occupation in March 2022.
Among the guests were UNITED24 ambassadors Scott Kelly and Liev Schreiber, with representation from Ukrainian and international companies including Uber, Revolut, Grammarly, Smorgon Steel, NAVI, Wieden & Kennedy, Biosphere, Aurora Multimarket, InterChem and more. Temerty Foundation, Luxoptica, AWT Bavaria, WOG and other individuals also contributed to the school restoration.
Children from seven villages go to the school in Marianivka, which will be rebuilt with funds raised at the dinner. Despite the damage caused by the hostilities in March 2022, 120 preschool and school children continue to study there.
Every day, a school bus travels almost 75 kilometers to pick them up and take them home. Funds raised at the charity dinner will support the design, rebuild and furnishing of the school, as well as the restoration of the roof. After the reconstruction, 300 children will be able to return to the school.
"We have all been so inspired by the Ukrainian people and their unbreakable spirit. I am delighted that we have been able to raise such vital funds to rebuild a school in Ukraine that was destroyed by Russia and their illegal and barbaric invasion," said Richard Branson.
Richard Branson met with President Zelenskyy in Kviv earlier this year and joined the UNITED24 team as a fundraising platform ambassador.
UNITED24, launched by President Zelenskyy,is the main platform for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. So far, more than $470,027,748 has been raised through donations from over 110 countries during over 16 months of operation.
Visit the UNITED24 website to learn more about its work and mission to unite the world around supporting Ukraine.