Celebrity couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis received a phone call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to personally thank them for their efforts in aiding those affected by the ongoing war.
According to reports, Kutcher and Kunis’ GoFundMe campaign has raised over $35 million to help victims of the conflict in Ukraine, fast approaching its month-long anniversary.
Earlier in March, the pair initiated the campaign with the aim of raising $30 million. The initiative was started in conjunction with Airbnb and FlexPort.org, while the couple helped get it off the ground with $3 million of their own money.
They were recently contacted by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who went on to share a screenshot of his video call with Kutcher and Kunis on Twitter.
“@aplusk & Mila Kunis were among the first to respond to our grief. They have already raised $35 million & are sending it to @flexport & @Airbnb to help 🇺🇦 refugees,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Grateful for their support. Impressed by their determination. They inspire the world. #StandWithUkraine.”
Kutcher and Kunis, meanwhile, shared their own video thanking all those who have pitched in to help.
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude for your support. 2 weeks ago we asked you to join us and more than 65,000 of you stepped up and donated what you could. Now, with your help we have reached our $30 million goal,” pair wrote on Ashton Kutcher’s Instagram page.
“While this is far from a solution for the problem, our collective effort will provide a softer landing for so many people as they forge ahead into their future of uncertainty. Our work is not done. We will do everything we can to ensure that the outpouring of love that came as a part of this campaign finds maximum impact with those in need. Funds have already and will continue to be delivered to Flexport.org and Airbnb.org so they can act now.”
They finished: “As funding continues to come in we will treat every dollar as if it were being donated from our pocket, with respect and honor for the work that went into earning it, the intent of love through which it was given, and the desire for it so be maximized for positive outcomes for others.”
Kunis actually immigrated to the US in 1991 from Ukraine. In a recent interview, she revealed how she often told people she was from Russia because it was more likely they would know of it.
“I very much have always felt like an American,” she explained.
“It’s been irrelevant to me that I’ve come from Ukraine. It never mattered. So much so that I’ve always said I’m Russian, right? Like I’ve always been like, ‘I’m from Russia’ for a multitude of reasons.”
She added: “This happens and I can’t express or explain what came over me but all of a sudden…I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart just got ripped out. It was the weirdest feeling.”
“I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy. I do really want to emphasize that. I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press,” Kunis continued.
“I think that there’s now, ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ mentality. And I don’t want people to conflate the two problems that are happening. I don’t think it’s the people of Russia and so, I don’t want there to be a thing of ‘All Russians are horrible human beings.’ I don’t want that to be a rhetoric, so I do encourage people to look at it from a perspective of, ‘It’s the people in power, not the people themselves.'”
Thank God for kind people like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis! We hope and pray that the war in Ukraine is brought to its end sooner rather than later.
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