Star Wars star raffles Ukrainian embroidered shirt to raise funds to rebuild school in Kyiv Oblast
American actor Mark Hamill, who played the role of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars", has announced that he has contributed a Ukrainian vyshyvanka (embroidered shirt) to a prize draw to raise funds for the reconstruction of a school in Kyiv Oblast.
He made the announcement on Twitter.
"This embroidered shirt with embroidered lightsabers made to order is a gift," the actor writes.
To participate in the raffle and win the shirt, you need to donate US$24 or more to the United24 platform on the Donorbox website.
The funds raised will be used to rebuild the Academic Lyceum in the village of Buzova, which the Russians struck 14 times with missiles, mines and tank shells.
The fundraising target will be US$1,250,000 to help 452 children return to school on 1 September this year.
Other international celebrities have joined the fundraising campaign and have also donated vyshyvankas to the draw.
The basis for the shirts’ designs are ornaments characteristic of different regions of Ukraine, which are also complemented by thematic elements.
The fundraising will last until 1 June. There is no limit on the number of contributions each participant can make.
Also taking part in the campaign are:
- Imagine Dragons frontman Daniel Reynolds, who is raffling a shirt with ornaments from East Podillia. It depicts stylised dragons;
- country star Brad Paisley is offering a fringe accessory inspired by the work of Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Saienko;
- director Michel Hazanavicius is raffling a shirt with an ornament characteristic of Volyn, because his grandmother was from Kovel, Volyn Oblast;
- astronaut Scott Kelly is offering a dark blue shirt with embroidered stars and celestial bodies that "reminds him of two important trips: to outer space and to Ukraine";
- Canadian actress Katheryn Winnick’s shirt features traditional elements of Galicia, where her grandfather and grandmother came from;
- screenwriter Liev Schreiber is offering an embroidered shirt that reminds him of his Odesan ancestry;
- Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia’s shirt has a traditional Zhytomyr ornament depicting a cross as a sign of respect for his native Georgia;
- actor Mark Hamill is offering a shirt with geometric patterns depicting Jedi lightsabers based on the Star Wars films;
- historian Timothy Snyder is taking part in the campaign with an embroidered shirt featuring an ornament inspired by a book by Ukrainian writer Oles Honchar, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning;
- singer Barbara Streisand’s shirt has embroidery typical of Ternopil Oblast, where her family comes from;
- British explorer Bear Grylls is offering an embroidered shirt featuring a crocodile, camel, mountains and jungles.
Celebrated Ukrainian football player and coach Andrii Shevchenko has also joined in with the raffle. His vyshyvanka features the traditional geometric embroidery of Kyiv Oblast with a chestnut leaf motif, which has always reminded him of his hometown.
Background: Actor Mark Hamill became an ambassador of the United24 charity platform in September 2022. He helped raise funds for the Army of Drones.
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