DETROIT (WXYZ) — At Luxury Loud in Corktown, they grow and sell marijuana. But new to the menu this weekend is potato pierogi.
“It's a little more unique," Loud Luxury engineering manager Marko Malinowski said. "'Pot and Pierogi' kind of catches people’s attention for some reason, and they do go well together actually,” Malinowski said.
As a first generation Ukranian American growing up in Hamtramck, Malinowski and many of his friends have a strong connection to their homeland.
“We all have a lot of family back home. Some of us have heard from them, some of us have not," Malinowski said. "So, it just affects us deeply, in a different way than anything else.”
In the midst of war, the employees at Luxury Loud came up with an idea to help Malinowski and everyone in Ukraine.
“Seeing what a lot of our friends were going through and just hearing about it and wanting to do something,” retail provisioning manager Evan Daughery said.
On Sunday, Luxury Loud will donate 100% of all cannabis sales to benefit children in Ukraine. They also enlisted the help of Srodek’s in Hamtramck to provide pierogi along with kielbasa for a donation.
"I think that’s got a great sound to it,” Srodek's co-owner Rodney Srodek said of the "Pot and Pierogi" fundraiser name.
Srodek and Malinowksi are childhood friends. Srodek was also raised in Hamtramck but was born in Poland near the Ukrainian border, where more than one million Ukrainian refugees have now crossed.
“A lot of women and children that we’re welcoming with open arms, trying to give them some safe haven,” Srodek said.
With their Pot and Pierogi fundraiser, they expect to raise thousands of dollars and all donations will be given to UNICEF. The organization is on the ground helping families fleeing the war and on Sunday, their first shipment of medical supplies arrived in Lviv.
This coming Sunday, these local business owners hope to show their support for Ukraine from Detroit, using pot and pierogi.
“It feels good," Srodek said. "I wish I could do more, but it’s a start.”
"We can do it, we will fight," Malinowksi said. "Like we say, 'Slava Ukraini,' which is 'Glory to Ukraine.'”
The fundraiser runs from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. at Luxury Loud located at 2520 22nd Street in Detroit.
In order to go inside and purchase cannabis, you must have a medical card. Everyone is welcome to come out to the parking lot and purchase raffle tickets or buy some Pierogi.
To learn more about UNICEF and to donate, visit www.unicefusa.org/ABC.
