Door County Candle Company sells “Hope” for Turkey and Syria earthquake survivors

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The Door County Candle Company raised $2,000 in its first weekend selling a candle for Turkey and Syria earthquake relief.

The new candle is called “Hope,” and that’s what Christiana Gorchynski, the store owner, wants to show to those struggling with the aftermath. When she first heard the news of the earthquakes, she sprung to action.

“I want to do what we can whenever we can, and so that’s kind of when I was like we need to launch a candle and start raising money for those who need it,” Gorchynski said.

The Hope candle sells for $29.95 and is described as a “proprietary blend of vanilla.” It’s being sold in its store at 5789 Highway 42 and online.

The Sturgeon Bay candlemaker is donating 100% of the profits from sales of the candle to UNICEF, which is focused on children and families in the emergency response.

Gorchynski said their goal is to raise at least $10,000.

“When I saw what was going on there and all the aftermath, I said to myself, ‘We might be making a candle for this because that’s just the way Christiana thinks,’” said Larry Michaelson, a candlemaker at the shop. “She’s always thinking of things like that.”

She’s no stranger to using candles for fundraising. It’s been almost a year since the Door County Candle Company started selling Ukraine candles in the colors of the Ukrainian flag to raise money for humanitarian relief efforts after the Russian invasion.

Gorchynsky, who’s Ukrainian, started with a goal of selling 15,000 blue and yellow candles. She told Action 2 News Tuesday that donations have exceeded $868,000 so far.

The candle company has also sold long-burning tin candles to ship to Ukraine to provide light when Russia started attacking Ukraine’s power grid and a candle for Hurricane Ian relief efforts last fall.

From mixing the wax, to pouring, to wicking and labeling, everything is done by hand. Gorchynski says when creating the charitable candle, they stick with universal and familiar scents.

“It’s symbolic for unity, and hope, and light and brighter days,” says Gorchysnski. “I think people having this candle, it really makes them know they contributed to an important cause. And they get to have it as a symbol to show they’re supporting an important cause,” Gorchynski said.

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