The pair has raised more than $100 million together.
Bethenny Frankel and Maksim Chmerkovskiy make an unstoppable pair. ET's Nischelle Turner spoke to Bethenny about her charitable work in Ukraine following Russia's invasion of the country, and the mogul wasn't shy about praising the pro dancer, who recently returned to Poland to help with refuge relief efforts.
"He has been talking to a bunch of different people. He wants to really sink his teeth in and have an impact," she told ET. "... He's got the bug... He is seeing what's going on. He is seeing that he is making a difference and an impact, while it may not be raising money per say, it's raising awareness, which is the real value."
"He will see how it makes a difference, getting involved, and being passionate about it, and how you just can't not do it," Frankel added. "It's a great use of his time. His wife [Peta Murgatroyd] is very supportive. It's great that we connected. I am proud for him to see what we have done in an extraordinarily short time."
Meanwhile, Chmerkovskiy, who left Ukraine in the '90s when it was part of the Soviet Union, told Good Morning America that it was his "duty" to return to Poland. He was in Ukraine when the invasion began and managed to flee to Poland via train.
He made his way home to the U.S. and started charitable organization called Baranova 27, which is named after the address that he was born at in the Ukrainian city of Odesa. He stayed less than a month before making his return.
"When I finally came back home and finally saw Peta and we had that emotional moment, that's when I realized I've got to go back," he told GMA. "I want opportunities to prove to my son, me as a man, I want him to be proud of me and maybe this is the opportunity to show exactly how to do it. I'm super grateful. It's things like this that change me as a person."
On Wednesday evening, Chmerkovskiy took to Instagram to share an update regarding his efforts, and thanked Frankel for joining their efforts together.
"Thank you @bethennyfrankel and @bestrongglobal for bringing me in," Chmerkovskiy wrote. "I am looking forward to establishing this partnership and using our resources together with @baranova27 to help as many people as possible, as quickly as possible."
Through her initiative, BStrong, and its Global Empowerment Mission, Frankel has raised more than $100 million, a feat she called "massive" and "extraordinary."
"It started out as a 10, 11 million dollar effort, now we are unstoppable," she said. "We have major brands donating. We have Americans who are donating five and 10 dollar donations. We have never seen constant money coming in like this. We can keep helping people."
"We can can save thousands of refugees from heart ache and heart break and a different kind of life. We are talking to orphanages, and we are counting children, and making sure that drug trafficking is entirely avoided, obviously," Frankel added. "There are so many things that we are thinking about. We have these massive warehouses where people can come and get the aid they need. We have sat down operating tables, and wheelchairs, and medical supplies. Some kids will need coloring books and toys, and all of it will be able to be facilitated."
Much of the money Frankel has raised will be going to refugee relocation, she said.
"BStrong since the beginning has probably done about $350 million in relief and now this effort is 100, so this is really a massive effort," she said. "We have been raising almost a million dollars a day. It keeps going and awareness keeps helping. We were the first there. We have a really major infrastructure. It's sad to say it's going well because it's not a great situation, but it's going well."
While not everyone can afford to donate large sums, Frankel noted that "every dollar counts."
"The reason this went from a 10 million to 100 million dollar effort is because of people posting, reposting, tweeting, retweeting, connecting, communicating, and the five and 10 dollar donations," she said. "America is taking notice."
Frankel additionally noted that her organization "will be there for months and months to come, long after the headlines fade."
"This is a massive refugee crisis and even if everything went back to the way it was it can never go back to the way it was, because the country of Ukraine is in distress. The more people talk about it, the more people donate, the more we show our results," she told ET. "... Nobody can distribute the funds in the way we can in such an immediate fashion, and can show exactly where every single dollar is going. There is nobody that can get there that quickly and do what we have done. It just doesn’t exist, because we do not play games."
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