Ex-Beatle Back in the Former U.S.S.R. for Charity
June 17, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Paul McCartney performed a charity concert on Saturday to raise money for a pediatric cancer-treatment department in the Ukraine, reports the Associated Press.
The concert, the first by the former Beatle in the former Soviet republic, and the largest such event ever in the Ukraine, brought tens of thousands to Kiev’s central Independence Square, including Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
While free to concertgoers, the organizer, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, requested donations from Ukrainian businesses. More than 500 people donated a total of about $600,000, according to the foundation; the money will help the Ukraine’s National Cancer Institute buy diagnostic equipment for its childhood cancer department.
Mr. Pinchuk, a billionaire, is Ukraine’s richest man; he started the foundation in 2006 to contribute to the modernization of the country and help develop new leadership.
(Free registration is required to view this article on the Washington Post site.)
