NE Queens Resident Thanks Hospital Workers With Bagels, Coffee

WHITESTONE, QUEENS — A northeast Queens resident is showing her appreciation for the doctors and nurses fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in quintessential New York fashion: with fresh bagels and a cup of coffee.

Whitestone resident Karra Puccia, 24, grew up in a family of health care workers, so when she headed home from law school to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic, she knew she wanted to do something to help the people on the frontlines.

So Puccia started a GoFundMe campaign to buy bagels and coffee for workers at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, where she volunteered during high school.

"It's really easy for people to feel helpless and that you just can't do anything about this," Puccia told Patch in a phone interview. "I don't like feeling helpless, and I could see it wasn't just me."

Since Puccia started the fundraiser a week ago, she's raised more than $4,000 from 116 donors and was even featured on NY1 and in the pages of the Queens Daily Eagle.

She delivered the first batch of bagels and coffee, donated by Bagel Parlor in Whitestone, on Tuesday. Two days later, she brought over 12 dozen bagels and 12 big boxes of coffee from Bagel Parlor, noting that another way to help the community during the pandemic is to support local businesses.

Puccia plans to head back to the Flushing hospital Sunday with another round, and she said she'll keep going for as long as people support her cause.

"They need masks, they need ventilators, they need things that are way more important than bagels," Puccia said. "But this is something that anyone can do."