Mar. 17—NEWBURYPORT — A fossilized tooth of a woolly mammoth will help the people of Ukraine after it was donated to the Custom House Maritime Museum on Wednesday.

New England Fishmongers hauled up the woolly mammoth tooth off the coast of Plum Island in December and the Kittery, Maine-based company put the roughly 12,000-year-old fossil up for bid on eBay last week.

The fishing company also pledged to donate all of its proceeds to World Central Kitchen, which provides hot meals to Ukrainian refugees affected by the recent Russian invasion of their country.

Newburyport native and Merrimac resident Dan Healey had the winning, $10,300 bid for the fossil. The ARC Technologies founder decided to keep the charitable contributions going by donating the tooth to the Custom House Maritime Museum on Wednesday afternoon.

Healey was accompanied by a police escort in City Marshal Mark Murray when he delivered the tooth to museum board Chair Susan Bernhard.

Plum Island residents Nadiia and Jarred Sadowski recently started Nova Kakhovka’ for Life, which has been raising money and sending it directly to volunteers in Nova Kakhovka’, a Ukrainian city hard hit by the invasion.

The husband and wife were also on hand for Healey’s museum donation and were delighted to hear that he will be matching anything they raised, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000.

“I don’t know Ukraine all that well but what is going on there is just unfathomable,” Healey said. “I just wish I could be doing so much more.”

The Sadowskis were visibly moved by Healey’s generosity on Wednesday.

“I am impressed by how much people are trying to support Ukraine,” Nadiia Sadowski said. “Every little bit helps. Every dollar, every cent. No one over there expected to go through this because no one expects it. No one is ready for this too.”

“We love it,” Jarred Sadowski added.

The museum will mount the tooth and put it on display along with the Ukrainian flag, as well as information on where to donate to World Central Kitchen and Nova Kakhovka’ for Life, according to Bernhard

The tooth will also be on display just in time for the museum’s newest exhibit, “Legendary Newburyporters,” which begins April 2.

Healey said donating the tooth to the museum helped New England Fishmongers raise money for Ukraine and will allow the museum to do the same.

“It’s killing two birds with one stone,” he said.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.