GoFundMe Made For Minority-Owned Shops, Workers Impacted By Blaze

SUNNYSIDE, QUEENS — A Sunnyside neighborhood group set up a GoFundMe to support several businesses damaged by a 4-alarm fire on Thursday morning.

Around 7:20 a.m., the blaze broke out at Taiyo Foods, a Japanese grocery store located at the corner of 44 Street and Queens Boulevard, and quickly spread to a row of nearby businesses before fire fighters got it under control, FDNY reports show.

"At this time we know that several businesses have been damaged or disrupted," wrote Sunnyside Shines on the GoFundMe page organized on behalf of the impacted businesses. "We are jumping into action to raise relief funds for workers displaced but this fire," the group added.

In addition to Taiyo Foods, where the fire started, Sunnyside Shines identified several neighboring businesses that were impacted by the blaze — including Mad For Chicken, a Korean chain restaurant, Mad Cafe, its adjacent cafe, and Bajeko Sekuwa, a Nepalese restaurant.

For these businesses, the blaze is merely the most recent hardship after months of losses amid a pandemic that decimated the hospitality industry.

Mad Cafe, for instance, opened after the eatery's three owners struggled with months of pandemic-related delays, the Sunnyside Post reported.

"We appreciate your support as our businesses struggle with this new loss after the last grinding 18 months of hardship for our entire community," the fundraiser reads.

And, as the area's future City Council Member Julie Won pointed out, these businesses are owned by Asian Americans and minorities, who disproportionately struggled to keep their doors open throughout the pandemic.

"These local restaurants & businesses bring so much culture, beauty, and diversity to our neighborhood. Japanese groceries, Korean fried chicken, Nepalese food, and more," Won tweeted, encouraging neighbors to donate to the GoFundMe.

In the fundraiser comments, locals vouched for the importance of these businesses.

"I frequent Taiyo, Mad For Chicken, and Bajeko. I hope the folks at these neighborhood gems get back up on their feet soon," one wrote.

Another, who lived in Sunnyside for four years and moved in 2020, said they often shopped at Taiyo Foods. "[The people at Taiyo Foods] were always so nice and I would gladly do anything I can to help," they wrote.

By 1:00 p.m., two hours after it was made, the fundraiser had raised just over $5,200 of its $35,000 goal.

You can donate to the "Sunnyside Fire Relief for Small Businesses GoFundMe" here.