1748 Bakehouse sells Jewish hamantashen cookies for Ukrainian relief fundraiser

1748 Bakehouse is the latest local business to join support efforts for Ukraine.

For days, Allison D'Aurizio had been brainstorming ways to help amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Her mother led a nonprofit for years that centered in Ukraine, where her father was a rabbi. They moved back to the United States in the early 2010's.

"The war on Ukraine has been a topic of conversation with us since the invasion," said D'Aurizio, who co-owns 1748 Bakehouse in Springfield. "The updates, the worries, the real people and places of their stories put a human touch on this that I might not have had otherwise."

While scrolling on Instagram, D'Aurizio came across a new account — @hamantashen_for_ukraine — a grassroots bake sale initiative raising money for the nonprofit Polish Humanitarian Action to help assist Ukrainian refugees at the Polish border escaping the violence.

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Hamantashen are a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cookie eaten during the holiday of Purim — which marks a triumphant story of Persian Jews overcoming the desire of a wicked villain, Haman, to annihilate the community. Purim begins on Wednesday evening this week and lasts through Thursday.

"I knew Purim was coming up and had decided to do hamantashen for a few days anyway, then I saw an Instagram post about Hamantashen for Ukraine and I signed up immediately," D'Aurizio said.

1748 Bakehouse joins a list of over 100 participating bakeries, delis and home bakers across the globe. To date, the bakery is the only Jacksonville participant.

The bakery, located at 1748 N Main St., will be selling hamantashen daily through Friday for $2.50 each. So far they have sold about 100 in varying flavors, including orange date honey. D'Aurizio said all proceeds will be sent to Polish Humanitarian Action.

Next up, the bakery plans to run a fundraiser to help support World Central Kitchen — the nonprofit organization that provides meals on the frontlines of disasters. Currently, the group is serving thousands of meals to Ukrainian families fleeing home as well as people remaining in the country.

Across Jacksonville, other businesses have been showing solidarity and raising money for Ukrainian relief efforts. Intuition Ale Works announced it would join the international "Brew for Ukraine" movement, with a special release beer next month.

Emily Bloch is an education reporter for The Florida Times-Union. Follow her on Twitter or email her. Sign up for her newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville bakery joins Hamantashen for Ukraine bakesale efforts