UN envoy hails NYC eatery feeding Ukraine
STORY: The Manhattan eatery Veselka serves up traditional Ukrainian fare such as pierogies and borsch. But the dishes are feeding more than just this lower east side neighborhood.
ANDRES: “What you see here is small and bigger businesses, men and women like him that they're doing everything they can to keep supporting Ukrainians back home. And then he's been supporting World Central Kitchen. “
Chef José Andrés is founder of the food relief organization World Central Kitchen. The group has served more than 158 million meals in war-ravaged Ukraine, according to the United Nations.
On Friday U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, along with Chef Andres, thanked the Veselka restaurant's co-owner Jason Birchard for their contribution.
THOMAS-GREENFIELD: “This is a war against aggression. It is a war against Russia's unprovoked attack on a smaller neighbor. And it takes every single person to commit to helping Ukraine fight against this, uh, aggression.”
Since the start of the war in February, Veselka has been donating all sales of its borsch to Ukrainian relief efforts.
BIRCHARD: “We've raised almost a quarter of $1,000,000. I mean, it's a drop in the bucket to what other organizations have, but we're very grateful for the community support.”
Andrés said Ukraine's fight is everyone's fight.
“Everybody right now is one person. Everybody right now is one nation. Fighting for freedom, fighting, fighting for liberty, fighting for democracy, not only on behalf of Ukrainians, but on behalf of all Americans, on behalf of all Europeans, on behalf of all the people of the world.”
