DOOR COUNTY, Wis. — A local candle company is making progress in shipping out tens of thousands of orders.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Door County Candle Company has made it their mission to sell a yellow and blue candle to raise money for those in Ukraine. Since then, the quaint candle shop has been able to donate $700,000 to Ukraine.
For the past five months, owner Christiana Trapani and a team of over 500 volunteers have shipped out over 29,000 candle orders.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would be at this number,” Trapani said.
They have managed to sell over 70,000 candles and have finally gotten over the hump of a backlog of orders from March when they got 20,000 orders in just one week.
“We went from a small little candle shop that only made 15,000 candles a year to having to make orders of over 65,000 candles,” Trapani said.
All of their proceeds are being donated to Ukraine, which means $700,000 will go towards medical supplies, drones to drop off those medical supplies and help to get families evacuated.
“It’s just a wonderful and inspiring thing to know that so many people around you want to help and support and they are standing behind the people of Ukraine, that is incredible,” Trapani said.
Ginger Lord is a volunteer who’s been coming from Appleton twice a week to help pack orders since March.
“We’re happy we can do something and every day is a different day here,” Lord said.
Lord said it’s a job she feels blessed to do alongside her husband and wishes she could come more often.
“I say a prayer every time I pick up one of these boxes for the person this might be helping in Ukraine,” Lord said.
Their team has accomplished a huge undertaking and Trapani said they want to keep raising more money.
“The goal is a million. So, we are going to hit a million dollar donation,” Trapani said.
It’s a goal she’s confident in after seeing what this team has been able to do so far.