Val Chmerkovskiy Raises Money for Ukraine at Dance With Me Regionals
FilmMagic Reading Time: 2 minutes
Dance With Me, a dance company owned by Dancing With the Stars professionals Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, is hosting their regional competition as a fundraiser for Ukraine. During the event, Valentin Chmerkovskiy took a pledge to donate all the money raised during his dances to support Ukraine.
Valentin Chmerkovskiy Pledges to Donate all Proceeds Fundraised During His Dances
Dance With Me explained that they would proceed with the event, but all proceeds would go to Ukraine. All of the donation money, including scholarships and proceeds from Chmerkovskiy’s dances will go directly to Ukraine dancers. During Chmerkovskiy’s filmed speech, he stated that the situation in Ukraine should be talked about, even during a fun event.
“This is supposed to be a fun events and it will be an incredibly fun event, fun day, festive day, festive week, but obviously we can’t ignore some challenging times that are happening on the other side of the world,” Chmerkovskiy said. “They are affecting my family immediately but also a lot of my peers, a lot of my friends and us as human beings in general. We all have to be empathetic to all struggles, not just the ones that touch us personally.”
The professional dancer filled the audience in on the tough times in Ukraine. He emphasized that there’s a dance community that is struggling in return within the country. During his speech, Chmerkovskiy promised to donate 100% of the money raised from his dances at the events. According to his Instagram story, he took this pledge for both the March 3 and 4 events.
Dance With Me Supports Ukrainian Dancers
Dance With Me’s Instagram post states that donations will go directly to the World Dance Competitors Commission fundraiser. The Ukrainian Dancers Fund will help couples with immediate money, food, water, transportation, clothing, etc. The group hopes the funds will help with recovery, when the country is at that point. As of right now, they have raised £42,281 of their £50,000 goal.
Chmerkovskiy took this pledge soon after his brother, former DWTS professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy returned to the United States. Maksim had been residing in Ukraine when the Russian invasion began. He was in Ukraine because he was a judge on their new series World of Dance. This professional dancer reportedly made it back to the U.S. on March 2, after fleeing to Poland on a 23 hour train ride.
