ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta Star Wars fan has created an out-of-this-world homemade X-wing starfighter to help raise awareness and funds for Ukraine.
Akaki Lekiachvili, who was raised in republic of Georgia, works as a physician at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
He is also a Star Wars fanatic.
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CNN reported that Lekiachvili started building the nearly life-sized X-wing replica in his free time to help teach his kids science and technology.
The X-wing has its own Twitter account, which has been liked by Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill. His X-wing was recently shown at an Atlanta Braves “Star Wars” night, CNN reports.
“We roll out the X-wing and people line up. Kids want to sit in and push buttons, take pictures and donate. We’ve been raising very good money,” Lekiachvili said.
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Lekiachvili says his garage became his lab and joked that his wife wasn’t thrilled about it.
But six years and nearly $50,000 in building materials later, Lekiachvili is now turning his love for Star Wars into a fundraiser to help benefit Ukraine.
Lekiachvili told CNN that he and his wife have family in the countries surrounding Ukraine.
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He says his mission to help is just getting started.
“It’s a huge, huge tragedy. Lots of people are suffering and it’s a really good opportunity to help,” he said.
He has created a GoFundMe page to help Ukrainians. All donations will go directly to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Georgia Branch.
To donate, click here.
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