When I first heard that Hydraulic Hearth (in Larkinville) was running a pizza promotion – called March for Ukraine – during the month of March, with 100% of the sales benefitting the Ukraine effort, I called restaurant owner Harry Zemsky to chat. At the time, Harry told me that they were so overwhelmed by the response to the charitable promotion, that they were hoping to keep the effort grassroots and word of mouth. So I told him that I would call him back at the end of the month, to find out just how successful the pizza sales went.
During a call earlier today, Harry told me, “I definitely didn’t expect the reception. It went viral, in a local sense. People were banging down the door – it was nuts. I thought, ‘Oh, crap, we’re going to be really busy.’ I didn’t want it to backfire – we had to make sure that everyone had a good experience. In the end, everything worked out – we were busy even night.”
I asked Harry if there was a memorable moment that he will always reflect upon. “The first night, 20 Ukrainians walked in and asked for a table. It was very special and emotional. We saw a ton of new faces throughout the month, which was also really nice.”
In the end, the charitable effort managed to raise $38,500, with the funds being split between HIAS and UCCA. It was Emil Bandriwsky at the Dnipro Ukrainian Cultural Center in Buffalo that suggested their sister organization UCCA as one of the charities. UCCA is apparently now opening a branch in Buffalo, according to Harry.
It’s not often that you hear of a charitable effort reaching such levels in such a short period of time. It just goes to show, once again, that the world is united behind Ukraine. And who doesn’t love eating a great pizza for a great cause?
Hydraulic Hearth 716 Swan Street Buffalo, NY 14210 | (716) 248-2216