THE GREATER GOOD CANDLE POWER

CHRISTIANA (GORCHYNSKY) TRAPANI

GRAD ’18

Christiana Trapani had never made a candle before, but that didn’t stop her from setting the world on fire. After buying Door County Candle Co. in 2021 and learning the craft, Trapani, a secondgeneration Ukrainian American, made custom candles for a school fundraiser in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood. With some leftover blue-andyellow candles on hand, Trapani started selling them to raise money for her family’s home country after it was invaded by Russia last year. She thought she’d sell 100 at most. She wound up selling tens of thousands all over the world. “Marquette helped me find a passion for entrepreneurship,” Trapani says. “Be The Difference really did inspire me to think about how I can be a positive difference in the community I’m living in and beyond.” Door County Candle has now contributed more than $868,000 to Razom’s Ukraine relief fund and sent 10,000 candles to the Ukrainian people.