Village Ice Cream fundraiser brings in $100K for Canada-Ukraine Foundation

More than $100,000 is being donated to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation by Village Ice Cream. (Instagram/VillageIceCream)

Even though the temperature barely got above freezing on Sunday, there were lineups in front of Village Ice Cream shops across Calgary.

The company committed to donating 100 per cent of sales on March 6 to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation to support efforts in that country against the ongoing Russian invasion.

The effort raised a total of $100,476.

"It's so much more than we've ever done in sales. We expected to maybe write a cheque for $15,000 or $20,000, so to see Calgarians come out like that, and arguably at the tail-end of winter, it wasn't a super warm day," said owner Billy Friley, adding one customer ordered 106 pints of ice cream.

"To wait in line and support like that … I was stunned.”

Friley grew up in Calgary while his wife, Tetiana, moved to Canada from Ukraine in 2013. Her parents, twin brothers, sister-in-law, and nephew all remain in her home country and one of her brothers is currently fighting with the Ukraine Armed Forces.

“I’ve always known Calgarians are very community minded but I haven’t been that close to it before,” he said. “I hadn’t experienced how incredibly generous Calgarians are and how much they rally behind something that is very important.”