JIM THORPE, Pa. — Twelve straight hours of jazz music wooed the crowd in Jim Thorpe.
The notes, reverberating through the Stabin Museum, sent support across the globe.
"When the war in Ukraine broke out, it immediately went straight through my heart, having grandparents that had come from Ukraine," said Joan Morykin, the museum's co-owner. "My father's first language was also Ukrainian. It was just a feeling of helplessness and 'what can we do?'"
Morykin reached out to her musician friends in the tri-state area.
Soon, the Jazz Concert For Ukraine was born.
"It just grew and grew and grew," she said. "Within a day, we had over 50 jazz artists and two other jazz venues willing to come on board."
One of them is Daniel Gonzalez, a military veteran, and drummer who helped bring the bands together.
All of the musicians played the entire event for free.
"We here at Vic's Jazz Loft and all of the surrounding jazz clubs wanted to play jazz and just wanted to touch everybody in a different way," Gonzalez said.
The live music raised money for operations on the ground in Ukraine.
Museum owner and artist Victor Stabin hopes the funds can also send a message.
"The more money we raise, the more impassioned people will look, and maybe the more seriously the base of the United States could be taken by the politicians in charge," Stabin said. "We're trying, and we want everybody to take that spirit and follow."
All the proceeds from the Jazz Concert For Ukraine are headed to humanitarian organizations in the war-torn country.
See more videos on our area’s connection to the Crisis in Ukraine.