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Alexandria Living Magazine
Friday night, hundreds of Alexandrians gathered on the rooftop deck of ALX Community at The Atrium — in a new space called Above ALX — and raised more than $35,000 for Ukrainian refugees.
At the event, Mayor Justin Wilson said one of the best things about Alexandria is that the residents always respond to tragedy, whether it's down the street or thousands of miles away.
The funds raised are going to CORE, a disaster relief non-profit organization that is helping Ukrainian war refugees.
Multiple restaurants donated food and drinks for the event, ensuring that all ticket sales and donations went to CORE instead of to funding the event itself. The businesses included Purple Onion Catering, The Light Horse, Northside 10, Alexandria Restaurant Partners, Lost Boy Cider, Port City Brewing, Locke Whines by Scout & Cellar, Umbrella Dry Drinks, Well Dunn, South Block Juice Co. and The Loan Signing Agent, LLC.
The event featured wines and beers from the Ukraine and neighboring, supportive countries.
The event was kickstarted by Mary K. Leonard, an Alexandria resident who is now in Poland and is the founder of Love in ALX. For the past two weeks, Leonard has been helping refugees cross the border into Poland and get settled. She was slated to return to the United States to attend Friday night's event, but broke her leg tripping over a camouflage tent tiedown at a border crossing. She sent a video from a Polish hospital and plans to continue working as soon as she recovers from surgery. Her husband attended the event in her place.
Donations are still being accepted through Love in ALX here.
