Princeton city council authorized the use of city facilities to host a fundraiser with a goal of donating the proceeds to aid Ukraine.

Councilmembers approved a silent auction, or similar fundraiser, using the Community Center to host the event during the Monday, March 14 regular meeting.

Mayor Brianna Chacon said she placed the item on the agenda because some of the city’s residents are Ukrainian. She added some of those residents asked for the city to contribute aid to the Ukrainian population amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

The initial action item before council was an authorization for the limited use of city funds and staff to facilitate the collection of donated items, but some logistical challenges arose, said Chacon. The mayor said the donations would be stored in a McKinney warehouse where a Ukrainian moving company would transport them to American Airlines.

She continued, saying American Airlines was going to transport the items in the cargo holds of its aircraft to Canada free of charge. Once the items were in Canada, a logistics company would ship the donations to Poland where they would be distributed to Ukrainian refugees, said Chacon.

“With the increase of gas prices and everything that has transpired since that time, American Airlines is no longer able to do that for free,” Chacon said. “With that price, it is no longer economical to send those items through cargo.”

For the full story, see the March 17 issue of the Princeton Herald.