BY KAREN BOSSICK

A diverse collection of organizations is joining together to Rally the Valley to raise money for Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

The Sun Valley Culinary Institute at 211 N. Main Street in Ketchum will be transformed into a Ukrainian humanitarian relief center where individuals will be able to make direct donations to three non-profit organizations from Wednesday, March 30, through Sunday, April 3.

The relief organizations are Doctors Without Borders, World Central Kitchen and International Fund for Animal Welfare.

It’s expected that many of the dollars will be able to be matched by The Argyros.

The Argyros’ board of directors put together a $50,000 matching grant for donations made Sunday at a livestreamed concert for Ukraine. And it expected to have some left over.

Representatives of six nonprofits in the valley—The Argyros, Higher Ground, The Hunger Coalition, Mountain Humane, Sun Valley Culinary Institute and Sun Valley Museum of Arts—decided to seek more donations to which that matching grant can be applied. And, so, they’re setting up the five-day relief center to offer people a way to assist Ukrainian people and pets who are affected by Russia’s and bombing.

“We set it up on Main Street across from the Sun Valley Film Festival headquarters, hoping that we’ll get a lot of foot traffic in that area for the five days of the film festival,” said Casey Mott, executive director of The Argyros.

A lot of people are wondering what they can do to help, and this will provide a vetted way to help, said Mott.

Mott said he was sitting at a computer ready to make a donation when he realized that contributing to an effort like relief for Ukraine was more meaningful done as a community

“Like everyone, I’m upset about what I see happening in Ukraine. I see an effort like this growing in concentric circles,” he said.

Bonnie Hovencamp was involved in resettling pets that were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

“Things like that really take a toll on the pets,” she said. So, it’s good to see efforts to help with the pets displaced by war in Ukraine.”

The Sun Valley Culinary Institute’s humanitarian relief center will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, March 30-31. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 1; noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 2-3.