Francesco Ristorante, located at 7708 Center Boulevard on the Ridge in Snoqualmie, will host a fundraiser benefiting the people of Ukraine at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24.

“I feel like I should do something, not just because my wife is from Ukraine, but because I can and I liked to support the things going on,” said restaurant owner Francesco Montalto, whose wife, Natalia, is Ukrainian. “We’re just trying to help the people in need.”

Patrons can spend either $95 per person on an Italian-Ukrainian infused buffet or can buy a $100 gift certificate with $50 going to the fundraiser and $50 going to the purchaser.

Proceeds will go to Operation Palyanytsya, a humanitarian relief project that works to provide evacuations, aid, shelter and supplies to those in Ukraine.

Since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, nearly 2 million Ukrainian residents have fled the country, according to The Washington Post, which reported March 8 that nearly half of those residents were children. Millions more Ukrainans are displaced within the country, but exact estimates are unknown.