Popular SoHo restaurant raises $50K for Ukraine, customer matches donation

SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) -- A popular restaurant in Manhattan, did a good deed donating all their sales to help raise money for people in Ukraine, only to be matched by the generosity of one customer.

At Balthazar Restaurant in SoHo, where French food melts in your mouth and spirits turn frowns upside down, who would've thought a stroke of the pen, a sip of that wine, and a bit of that cheese would go towards peace?

On Tuesday night, the restaurant donated all of its dinner proceeds to UNICEF's Protect Children in Ukraine charity.

The energy inside was unmistakable.

"The bar was packed in ways that not even the weekends match," Zouheir Louhaichy of Balthazar said. "It was really really tremendous. For a Tuesday night we were so busy."

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The restaurant raised $50,000 on Tuesday night, and then one of its customers matched it by donating an another $50,000.

"Yes, I am surprised. It's a tremendous amount," Louhaichy said. "Very lovely man. Longtime regular."

And it wasn't the only way locals showed their support for Ukraine. All across the Tri-State area people opened their wallets and their hearts.

At St. Mark's Catholic Academy, in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, students held a special dress-down fundraiser for the children of Ukraine.

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The school raised over $2,000 for "Voices of Children," which provides psychological and psychosocial support for children affected by war. Never too young to make a difference.

In Hicksville, Long Island firefighters stuffed their faces with meatballs to raise money for Ukraine emergency relief.

A homemade meatball eating contest on National Meatball Day at DiMaggio's Pizzeria.

New Yorkers showed there are all kinds of ways to help perfect strangers on another continent, in a time of need.

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