Fundraiser to support Irida's small business!

Hello! My name is Christa and I am honored to share Irida's incredible story, and ask for your support for her small business. Irida Kakhtiranova is a community organizer, chef, and champion of immigrant rights. She is also a devoted mother and wife. Despite being a hardworking taxpayer and married to a US citizen for nearly 20 years, like many immigrants she faced deportation to her birthplace of Russia during the first Trump administration. Irida bravely took sanctuary in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Massachusetts. She lived there, separated from her twin daughters, son, and husband, for almost 3 years until it was safe to emerge.

While in sanctuary she built a small business making and selling delicious pierogi in the church kitchen, which were sold by volunteers in local farmers' markets and stores. Her business, P-Frogi, gained a dedicated following and when she was able to move home, she expanded to other Russian delicacies.

Irida has applied for several grants for local business owners, but she has been regularly denied due to her lack of green card. As her immigration case slowly moves through the courts, her community has the opportunity to step up and support her work!

We humbly ask for any donation (no amount too small!) to support a local hero, immigrant rights activist, and chef who puts love into the food she makes. Donations will help her buy an automatic potato peeler, a dough sheeter, and pay for licensing and permits needed to expand her business.

We cannot thank you enough!

With deep gratitude,

Christa