Well, the war in Ukraine
rages on with no end insight.
But in our state of Minnesota,
there's hope, with a handful
of refugees finding new life at
a local restaurant that's been
around a long time. Gordon.
This one started nearly 70
years ago for that family
and that restaurant, right?
Yeah, Jenna, actually,
a few days ago I called Kramarcs
in Minneapolis to see how the wr
in Ukraine was affecting busine.
Being an Eastern European
deli and sausage company,
I wanted to know if more peoplee
coming into the shop to learn more about.
The crane and its culture,
the owner said yes,
but that's not the story you should tell.
I've got an even better story for you.
So we stopped by today and he was right.
Would you like for her to go?
There's a lot of Ukrainian pride here
at grammar checks in Minneapoli.
We have a salad. We have pierog.
There's the food, of course,
meat sarka, what kind would you like?
And the flags scattered across
the store and the people
there. Have a good day.
We are Ukrainian. Orest
Kramarczuk is a second generatin
Ukrainian born in Minnesota.
His parents started kramarczyk
69 years ago after fleeing
Ukraine during World War Two,
when my father was around a new immigrant.
Would come into the store and so
my father would pack up a a bagf
groceries for them to take home,
and if anyone needed a job, he d
hire them to work in the store.
A lot of them come back here
to this very day saying this
was my first job in America.
So when Orist first heard
about the war in Ukraine,
he immediately wanted to help.
I'm paying it forward.
Through his connections in the community,
he started hiring refugees who needed a job
one week ago. One week ago, she came back
like Natalia, who started
working here six months ago,
she has a lot of
pride in working in a restaurant
in the United States.
And 19 year old Oleg, who's from
Mariupol, that's the city that
Putin just visited last weekend,
that he totally leveled
a city that's now under Russian control.
But here in Minneapolis,
Oleg has found a home away from home.
They came, they eat here.
And then he decided that. You know this.
I'm working now. He works here
using his culinary background to
teach the cooks at Kramarczyk SA
thing or two about Ukrainian cuisine.
He's also able to tell us,
give us some tips on how things
should taste. Yeah, yeah.
Talk, talk, talk. Right, right.
And there are so many others.
We've hired about 13 of them, 13 people.
And Ora sees his parents in every single one
of them because of the situation
they're in is pretty much the
same situation your parents
were in so many years. Ohh yes.
When I first saw that I just std
crying because that was my pare.
They had all their belongings
in a Wicker basket.
That which which we have in the
basement here, that's all they
came over this country with.
And though he's the one providig
employment, he feels they are
giving him back so much more.
By hiring these people that have
come from there as refugees
has been an incredible gift, a
connection to his parents and
his culture and the opportunity
to do some good in this world.
For people who need it the most.
Range America. And that primarc,
they wanna do even more.
They're still looking for refugees who
need a job through the restaura.
Many of them are also finding
support in the community,
connections to various nonprofis
that are helping them learn
English and American culture.
And Jenna, the owners say it's a
lot like it was after World War,
when community members work
together to help everyone build
a new life here in Minnesota.
That's so interesting. So many so far,
and looking for even more.
We've been talking about jobs on this
show and an interesting way to do it.
Did they have a good crowd there today?
Yeah, we went there for lunch
this afternoon and I'd say we
probably saw 60 or 70 people th.
We actually tried some of their sauces.
That was, that's what they're known for.
But, you know, a couple of the people
that we we spoke to said that they were
specifically there because of the war
in Ukraine and they wanted to learn more
about this country and this cul.
Yeah. Remember when the war broe
out and Carchex did so much work
on the front end raising money,
but it's so cool that when you
called to see how it was going,
they're like, ohh, I've got more for you.
Come on out. Yeah, I was really
excited to hear that. And they,
they really intrigued me when ty
said we got a better story for .
So that's why we wanted to go out there.
And they were right. Thanks so ,
Gordon. Welcome. Well, a good.