Astoria Coffee Fundraising To Keep Hospital Workers Caffeinated

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Astoria Coffee launched a fundraiser to keep local hospital workers caffeinated as they treat patients who have fallen seriously ill from the new coronavirus.

Coffee shop owner Dennis Lee started the GoFundMe campaign Wednesday, inspired by his regular customers who had been leaving donations to buy coffee for health care workers who also frequented the coffee shop.

He has since raised over $2,000 from more than a hundred donors and started distributing coffee and pastries to workers around the corner at Mount Sinai Queens.

"If you've been reading the news or talking to friends that work in the field, you know about the danger and the harrowing conditions they face," he wrote on the GoFundMe page. "These selfless people have even been thanking us for staying open, but really it is for the rest of us to be thanking them."

Astoria Coffee's fundraiser joins a growing number of initiatives to support small business owners, medical workers and neighbors in Astoria, such as the Astoria Mutual Aid Network.

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