Many in the local community are finding ways to help those suffering from the conflict thousands of miles away in Ukraine.

This week, those who want to help need to look no further than the Brown County Playhouse’s stage.

On Thursday, March 24, a number of local musicians will gather to perform a benefit concert. Tickets purchased will be by donation and all funds will go to support the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS).

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine came to a head when Russia launched a full-scale invasion on its neighbor on Feb. 24.

Russia had deployed an estimated 175,000 troops at various points near Ukraine’s border in December.

Russian missiles reached the capital city, Kyiv on Feb. 25. As it stands as of March 17, Russian forces were roughly 15 miles north from the city center and had failed to cross the Irpin River, according to BBC News.

Russia claimed its forces had taken over Kherson, a port city on the southern coast on the seventh day of the war.

According to the United Nations, 3 million refugees had fled Ukraine since the war began.

According to their website, “the mission of the URCS’ activity is to ensure human life protection, prevention and mitigation of human suffering during armed conflicts, natural disasters, catastrophes and accidents, support to medical services of the armed forces and public healthcare services, assist public authorities of Ukraine in their activities in the humanitarian field.”

The idea was brought forward to Playhouse Executive Director Amanda Webb by friend and local musician John Whitcomb, who said the two needed to find a way to help those in Ukraine.

“We started reaching out (to others) and so many people wanted to do something,” she said. They decided that a benefit concert was something they could do.

Research was done and the URCS was chosen as the recipient of the funds because a great portion of the money will go directly to their cause, instead of supporting the infrastructure of the nonprofit, Webb said.

A variety of local musicians are in the lineup to perform at the event, Webb said.

The lights will be left on in the auditorium as different local names — like the Hammer and the Hatchet, Kenan Rainwater, Steve Plessinger, JC Clements, Jason Blankenship, Poets and Politicians, Terry Lee, Lou Stant and more — grace the stage and play as funds are raised to send overseas.

For most shows at the Playhouse, Webb said audiences will come in, sit down and they are there for the show. But this show will be different with a more informal environment as people walk around gathering donations.

“Everybody’s going to be there,” Webb said.

Tickets will need to be donation only, paid for by attendees with cash only, so money can be sent directly to the URCS.

Webb said by having tickets be cash donation only the Playhouse will be able to send as much money to the cause as they possibly can without having to pay additional fees to the ticketing or credit card processing companies.

Former Ukraine resident David Hayes will speak at the fundraising event and explain to the audience how they can understand, and help, the situation.

Webb said that in having Hayes speak and featuring traditional Ukrainian songs, they hope to make it personal, bring awareness and contribute to the cause.

“This is not political,” she said. “This is humanitarian. There’s a lot of stuff going down (in Ukraine) and we want to make sure we love on people there.”

The Playhouse does not feature local musicians often. Webb said attendees can expect to have a good time, but also to talk about why they are all gathered together.

“Let’s support our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. I love the fact that the Playhouse can be involved in something so much bigger than ourselves,” she said.

“To think we can be involved in something happening across the world, I think that’s huge. I feel really blessed to do something so much bigger than me or Nashville.”