WESTPORT — As the brutal war in Ukraine drags on, and the misery engulfing those trapped in the eastern European nation deepens, people around the world are reaching out to help.

One of those would-be helpers is Westporter Rick Smilow, a longtime town resident and Staples High School graduate.

Smilow is organizing an April 25 fundraiser to help feed the coffers of World Central Kitchen’s “#ChefsForUkriane” relief program, which is providing nearly 300,000 meals daily for people in the war-torn nation and its refugees in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary, according to its website.

World Central Kitchen was founded by renowned chef José Andrés. Since its founding in 2010, the nonprofit has provided meals to people besieged by disasters in the U.S. and abroad.

The April 25 fundraiser planned in New York City by Smilow is appropriately food-centric — he is the founder and CEO of the Institute of Culinary Education.

The event, set for 6 p.m. Monday, April 25, will take place at ICE, located on the third floor of Brookfield Place, 225 Liberty St., New York City, N.Y.  Tickets cost $300, and all proceeds, less sales tax, will be donated to the World Central Kitchen, according to event planners.

To purchase tickets and for more information, click here.

Featured will be a four-course tasting menu prepared by chefs Helen Nguyen, Mary Attea, Paul Liebrandt, Michael Laiskonis, Herve Malivert and Winston Chu. Wine pairings will be provided by Daou Vineyards. 

Three of the chefs are ICE alumni, according to Smilow.

Closer to home, Carlos Pia, a 2019 graduate of the ICE restaurant and culinary management program, recently opened DeTapas restaurant at 180 Post Road East.

The Ukraine-relief benefit is not the first hosted by ICE for a worthy cause, according to Smilow. Fundraisers also have taken place there for the Westport-Weston United Way, relief programs for survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and Streets International, a hospitality training program in Vietnam.