Barcelona Burger, Alino Pizzeria In Mooresville To Donate Over $71,000 To World Central Kitchen For Ukrainian Refugees

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The Barcelona Burger & Beer Garden and Aliño Pizzeria, located in Mooresville, will donate $71,861 to World Central Kitchen towards relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees after two fundraising days.

According to a news release, the total includes all revenue from The Barcelona Burger on March 8 and Aliño Pizzeria on March 9, a matching gift from the restaurants, plus a $5,000 gift from a friend of the restaurants.

“The message this week was, ‘Buy a good meal and help Ukrainian refugees.’ And many, many people came through,” Michal Bay, owner of both restaurants, says.

The World Central Kitchen, a non-profit founded by Chef José Andrés in 2010, is first to the front-lines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises while working to build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. The non-profit team is serving fresh meals to refugees in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania fleeing the war, with plans of expanding efforts into Moldova and Hungary.

“We’re so grateful to our customers for stepping up,” Bay says. “We are just one community, but we can accomplish so much for others.”

Both restaurants are located at Merino Mill on South Main Street.