GoFundQueens: Online fundraisers help power Queens COVID response

Queens residents have taken to GoFundMe to support frontline workers throughout the borough. Photo via GoFundMe

By Rachel Vick and Victoria Merlino

From her dorm room at New York Medical College, pre-med student Lillian Huang wanted to assist in the fight against COVID-19 any way that she could. 

Huang’s father, a physician at Elmhurst Hospital, is on the frontlines of the fight, helping treat patients with COVID-19 in the very epicenter of the pandemic. She thought of his colleagues, many of whom she had grown up around, and of her father, who was living in the garage back home to not expose the rest of her family to possible infection. 

So Huang did what many in Queens are now doing to help their friends and neighbors: she made a fundraiser through GoFundMe. 

“I thought it was right to dedicate my time,” she said. In conjunction with Elmhurst Hospital, she set up the GoFundMe to help pay for testing kits and protective equipment for staff, as well as transportation and housing for medical providers arriving in Queens from other parts of the country. As of Tuesday afternoon, she had already raised $5,546 in seven days — more than half her $10,000 goal. 

Huang said she was inspired by how Queens residents have united and shown pride in their borough during the COVID-19 crisis. 

“Queens can get through this,” she said. 

Searching “Queens, NY” on GoFundMe’s presents dozens of new fundraisers focused on COVID-19 relief and support. The initiatives include 3D-printing face shields for medical workers, delivering meals and collecting and distributing N95 masks. Unable to provide physical assistance, residents are making virtual efforts to support frontline responders. 

Sandra Khandai, a Richmond Hill resident who was born in Guyana, started her GoFundMe with the help of her daughter after people expressed interest in contributing to her mask-sewing efforts.

Khandai is repurposing old fabrics to make masks, complete with a space to insert medical grade PPE, and using donations to the GoFundMe to get resources like food and water to hospital staff.

“I really wanted to help the people out there working their tail off for us,” Khandai said. “People want to contribute, but a lot don’t know how. I didn’t know either, and I didn’t know I would get such a positive response.”

“You can only better a place by giving some of yourself,” she added. 

Soon, her other children — all adults —  tepped in, offering to help deliver masks to anyone who needed one. Khandai said she is proud of how the family has spread the word on social media and provided people with the masks.

Khandai said she delivered dozens of masks to the Rego Heights Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center after a staff member reached out and said employees needed PPE. 

“It’s all about encouraging each other, motivating each other,” Khandai said.

She continues to receive calls from community members who are looking for ways to help, she said. 

Khandai is looking for more ways to put her skills to use, like posting a mask-making tutorial to show her neighbors that everyone has the power to help.

Khandai and her team have made it a point to check with hospital staff before making a delivery. They planned to send pizza Friday, but changed direction after their contact said the Emergency Room staff could use water. Khandai and her family were able to send five cases in less than an hour.

“One [restaurant] told me to call and make sure they’re going to take the pizza, because someone else had donated pizza and the hospital refused it,” Khandai said. “It’s important that we talk to each other and know what they’re feeling, what their needs are.”