Queens Go Fund Mes raise nearly $1 million to fight COVID-19

Elmhurst Hospital staff take donated flowers into the medical center. AP Photo/Kathy Willens

By David Brand, Victoria Merlino and Rachel Vick

For Queens residents desperate to do something to assist in the fight against the coronavirus, online fundraisers have, at times, been a pretty productive tool.

Pledge drives on the fundraising website GoFundMe have raised nearly $1 million to support efforts to combat COVID-19 in Queens, according to an analysis by the Eagle. The search terms “Queens coronavirus” generated 163 individual fundraisers, of which 67 were specific to the borough (others applied to efforts in Queensland, Australia or parts of England; some were Queens, NYC-related but had been deactivated).

As of April 14 at 9 p.m. those 67 fundraisers had generated $984,319, at times directing the money to profoundly personal missions.

One drive, for example, has raised more than $7,000 for the family of Joseph Lewinger, a high school teacher and basketball coach who died of COVID-19 earlier this month. Another has generated $4,258 to help a Queens filmmaker pay his rent after a sudden diagnosis of Bell’s palsy.

Ambitious missions have reached people across the country with one fundraiser generating more than $600,000 that will go to supplying 1 million masks to New York City medical workers.

About a dozen other online fundraisers pledge to send food and supplies to staff at local medical centers like Elmhurst Hospital, the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis

“I thought it was right to dedicate my time,” said New York Medical College, pre-med student Lillian Huang, whose father is a physician at Elmhurst.

Huang’s GoFundMe has raised more than $5,500 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. 

Richmond Hill resident Sandra Khandai has paired her fundraiser with her own sewing skills. She’s making masks and raising money to send 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.”