A day at Philly’s museums became a day of aid for Ukraine’s suffering

Everything was turning out just how Altovise Love-Craighead had hoped on Saturday afternoon at the National Constitution Center.

The weather was beautiful. The crowds were small, and her group of about 10 Philadelphia police officers and a dozen teenagers were eager to get inside the center to see the historic exhibits many of them had only heard about.

Then things got even better.

Love-Craighead was told at the front desk that all admission fees to the center on Saturday were to be donated to UNICEF’s efforts to aid displaced children and families from Ukraine. Here it was, a perfect teachable moment for the young people in her group. So she ran with it.

“I thought how fitting that was,” said Love-Craighead, chief inspector of the Philadelphia Police Department’s community relations bureau. “These tickets were gifted to us, so the money that was used for us was then gifted to other children and young people in need. It’s perfect.”

Love-Craighead’s group was part of the Police Department’s Youth Advisory Commission, and she said she was likely to include the UNICEF drive as part of her follow-up discussion about the tour.

That was exactly what Jennifer Nagle wanted to hear. The executive vice president of the Independence Visitor Center Corp., Nagle also had high hopes for the day. “We saw this as an important effort,” she said. “We wanted to support and have others support these donations.”

The one-day project was championed by former Mayor and Gov. Ed Rendell and others, and seven museums and sites in Philadelphia’s historic district donated admission proceeds to UNICEF’s Historic Philadelphia Ukraine Support effort.

» READ MORE: More places to donate to help Ukraine

In addition to the National Constitution Center and the Independence Visitor Center, the participants were the African American Museum, the Betsy Ross House, Carpenters Hall, Franklin Square, and the Museum of the American Revolution. UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to assist children.

The timing might not have been perfect. The clear and sunny sky and balmy temperatures likely kept some people in their own backyard, and others may have been reluctant to venture downtown due to lingering pandemic fears.

But, Nagle said, it is spring break, the need for aid in Ukraine is urgent now, and the time seemed right for the folks in the historic area to pull together on one project.

“We wanted to partner with the other sites on Independence Mall to lift the tide for all of us,” Nagle said. How much was raised will not be known for a few days, given that figures from seven sites will have to be collected, she said.

And if you did stay home, the sites will continue to accept donations for Ukrainian relief until the end of March.

» READ MORE: These Philly businesses are raising money for Ukraine

Rob and Andrea Nissenbaum had already planned to drive down from Bucks County and tour the Constitution Center when Andrea noticed online that the proceeds for their admission would go to the UNICEF project. If there were any doubts about their day trip before that, they were gone afterward.

“That sealed it,” Andrea said of the donations. “It was important to us. This is an important time.”

“This made it easy for us to do something good,” Rob said.

Eugene Luciw, president of the Philadelphia branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, said events such as Saturday’s show “the level of generosity by all aspects of American society” toward Ukraine. “Philadelphia is the cradle of American independence. Ukraine is now the cradle of European peace,” he said. “There are many similarities.”

For Love-Craighead, the connections between Americans and Ukrainians go even deeper than national identity.

“It’s a great example,” she said, “of human beings helping other human beings.”