Point Beach Mayor Announces Ukraine Charity Concert

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Point Pleasant Beach will host a charity concert on the boardwalk on April 10 to assist Ukrainians in the midst of the ongoing Russian invasion, Mayor Paul Kanitra has announced.

Kanitra made the announcement Monday on his Facebook page following a weeklong trip to Poland where he and Greg Johnson, one of his best friends, assisted Ukrainian refugees entering Poland as they escaped the violence at home.

Details are still being finalized, Kanitra said in the post.

"Mark your calendars for April 10th at Jenkinson's on the boardwalk right here in Point Pleasant Beach. We're working on a great lineup of Jersey bands and will be posting more details soon," he wrote.

The concert is set for the same weekend Jenkinson's opens its amusement rides for the season.

Kanitra has been passionate about helping the Ukrainian refugees in part because each summer the boardwalk employs a number of young adults from Ukraine. The issue also has been personal for him, because of family ties to Poland and Slovakia.

"For years young Polish and Ukrainian people have come over to take summer jobs on the boardwalk and have forged a lot of lasting relationships here," Kanitra said before his trip to Poland."I don't know how much of a difference one person can make, but I'm at least going to try."

More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded it on Feb. 24.

See some of the experiences he documented on his trip to Poland to help the refugees: Point Beach Mayor Documents Heartwrenching Ukrainian Refugee Work

Kanitra has suggested the following organizations as places to send monetary donations:

• The Polish Red Cross, which is providing medical assistance to those who need it;
• World Central Kitchen, which is providing hot, high-quality meals at all border crossings and refugee centers in Poland and other border countries;
• Caritas Poland, which has committed to getting 2,000 orphans out of Ukraine;
• Khalsa Aid International, which provides humanitarian aid all over the world. "We are inspired by the Sikh principle of 'Recognise the whole human race as one, ' " the group's Facebook page says.

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