Over $26,000 raised for Ukraine at a charity event in Knoxville, USA

On August 27, 2022, the Ukrainian Benefit Gala was held at the Knoxville Botanical Garden (Knoxville, Tennessee, USA) to support the work of Doctors Without Borders in Ukraine, an organization that helps doctors. The event combined a musical program, a dinner with Ukrainian accents, and an art auction, raising over $26,000 to help Ukraine.

The event was organized by Ukrainian scientist Olena Korotych, who lives in Knoxville, and the Marek Maria Pienkowski Foundation, which supports artists and scientists in the USA and Poland. Local partners joined them. There were few Ukrainians among the guests, but it was the Ukrainian theme, menu, and art auction that set the tone for the entire evening.

The program featured music performed by musicians of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor James Fellenbaum. The evening's menu was built around Ukrainian cuisine: Rosa's Catering prepared, among other things, potato pancakes, beet salads, chicken "Kyiv-style," and honey cake. The blue and yellow palette was used in the lighting and decor, and compositions of sunflowers stood on the tables.

                                      Works at the Ukrainian Benefit Gala

According to one of the participants, Ukrainian artist Myroslav Duzinkevych, who has lived in the USA since 2019, the entire event was a promotion of Ukrainian culture. Among other things, musicians from the local Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performed the anthem of Ukraine for the guests.

                          Ukrainian Benefit Gala - beginning of the auction

Myroslav Duzinkevych himself presented a series of 5 of his paintings at the auction, effectively forming a separate exhibition wall, the center of which was his work "Calla Lilies": "Like any normal Ukrainian now, you want to support your homeland with everything you can. All my works were sold, and this is very impressive. I am very grateful to the organizers who created such a beautiful and relevant event at the same time, and gathered a very caring audience, thanks to which the auction was so successful. In general, I am very satisfied, especially since all the money will go to help Ukraine."

                 Works by Myroslav Duzinkevych at the Ukrainian Benefit Gala

Myroslav Duzinkevych shared that the event in Knoxville was already his tenth charity art event in support of Ukraine, but the artist believes that this is still only the beginning of a larger fundraising trajectory.