MILWAUKEE — Otto Ohlsson opened up Dropout Fight Club during the pandemic, hoping to give people an outlet. The community quickly grew, and now members are coming together to help those a world away.
"We're just trying to raise as much money as we can for Ukraine. The more money we can raise, the better," Ohlsson said.
On Saturday night, Ohlsson hosted a free boxing class, and in return asked people to donate to the fight club's fund to help the thousands of people fleeing Ukraine as Russian continues to invade.
Dozens of people showed up to Saturday night's class.
"We got the gloves, we got the bags, we got a ton of weights. Let's just come together as a community and hopefully we'll raise some money," Ohlsson said.
Ohlsson is from England, and said he knows all of Europe is on high alert right now. He said his heart weighs heavy for all those impacted by the war.
"I know how close everything is there," he said. "And we're talking about nuclear reactors, that never ends well. We've been there before."
All of the money raised by the gym will be donated to the Red Cross of Ukraine.
"These last three years we've bounced around from chaos to chaos and we've had no control over any of it. COVID, this war. All I can do, all we can do, is bring everybody together. I've got a little gym, but we'll bring our little community together and every little thing makes a difference, right?"
The gym is accepting donations for their Ukraine Fund through Venmo. The username is @DropoutFC.
Click here for more ways you can donate to the people of Ukraine.
