'DWTS' Family Has Shipped 61+ Tons To Ukraine From Fort Lee

Fort Lee NJ

23 March, 2022

1:01 PM

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FORT LEE, NJ — Generous New Jerseyans and the dancing family that made Bergen County another home have sent more than 61 tons of supplies for humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Aleksandr "Sasha" Chmerkovskiy set up the charity Baranova 27 in Fort Lee. The charity is named for the address where sons Maksim and Valentin grew up in Odessa, NorthJersey.com reported. Maksim and Valentin are both professional dancers, and have appeared on "Dancing with the Stars" in the U.S. and other shows in Ukraine. On Monday, the charity's Instagram page marked two weeks since the charity was set up. In that time, Baranova 27 shipped 22.2 tons of goods by air and 39 tons by sea. The air shipment arrived in Lviv March 18. Another 19 tons of items are in progress, the charity said. Related: Fort Lee Is HQ For Ukraine Donations, Organized By Chmerkovskiys Maksim is in Poland organizing the charity's logistics, and Valentin is in Fort Lee at the donation center. Posts on the Baranova 27 Instagram show volunteers placing items into big boxes, which are wrapped in plastic for shipping. Donations of clothes, medical supplies, tactical gar, and more have been pouring into the rented warehouse at 2060 Hudson Street. Updates are posted on Instagram with drop-off times. Baranova27 also has an Amazon wish list to get supplies directly to donation headquarters, and a GoFundMe to cover the estimated $350,000 shipping cost. Dance With Me Dance Studios, which the family founded, have a location in Fort Lee.