Clarendon Hills girls raise over $17K for UNICEF selling bracelets to help Ukraine

CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. (WLS) — The outpouring of support and aid for Ukraine continues across the Chicago area, including from a griyo of girls in Clarendon Hills.

Calling themselves the Giving Girls, they are making bracelets in the colors of the Ukrainian flag to sell, and sending their profits to UNICEF.

“We use rubber bands to make bracelets,” Rosie Abramson said.

“We’ve made over 400 altogether,” Chloe Feeney added.

“We were going to give it to the children’s hospital and then our moms and family told us there was a war happening, so we started raising money for Ukraine,” said Savannah Wiklund.

Hearing the pain of a close family friend, who is Ukrainian, made their cause personal.

“Really frustrating for me and I didn’t want to see her upset,” Abramson said.

Only seven years old, the plight of war isn’t lost on them even as they lovingly chatter and thread rubber bands by the thousands.

“They shouldn’t be attacking children,” said Abramson. “They don’t do anything. You’ve already taken family members of their lives and taking others too… it’s just so frustrating.”

“I think about how sad the kids are that they’re leaving their home and having kids and having to leave their family members behind,” Feeney said.

In just a week, this startup bracelet operation has raised more than $17,000 that has already gone to UNICEF’s work on the ground in Ukraine and at the borders. You can donate to UNICEF’s Ukraine efforts by clicking here.