August 31, 2020
China Mac and actor William Lex Ham successfully achieved their GoFundMe goal of $10,000. Their fundraising initiative was created to support the NYC Chinatown economy by purchasing food and supplies from local businesses and distributing them free of charge to community members.
The crowd was primarily comprised of Asian senior citizens and the lines were reportedly two blocks long by early afternoon, AsAmNews reported. Many volunteers arrived early to help set up tables and boxes filled with takeout meals all purchased from local restaurants. These items included baked goods, ramen noodles, cookies, snacks, toothpaste, soap, water, and juice.
AsAmNews also reported the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory received funds to provide free ice cream to children as well. The entire event lasted several hours after China Mac and his cohorts exhausted all their supplies.
In an official statement released by China Mac and William Lex Ham’s newly formed group “TheyCan’tBurnUsAll”:
“We purchased $11K of goods from Chinatown businesses and gave it away to the people!
The first picture here… is the tourist shop that we first asked if we could drop $1K at… and they cried before us. The businesses in Chinatown are going through deep struggles with many closing
Even when we gave out free goods, the elderly were waiting in line for several hours before we started. Asians in America are not affluent and we must absolutely break the model minority myth
Because of your donations, we were able to shed some light through all of this suffering
Besides giving food… we donated $1790 to @thinkchinatown for an outdoor dining build for a struggling restaurant, donated 10 outdoor patio sets to Chinatown B.I.D., many plants to beautify these many outdoor dining areas, and 9 fresh new solid umbrellas to vegetable and fruit stand owners, who are often ignored.
Please support Chinatown and sooo many Asian businesses that have suffered from racism in addition to the pandemic lockdowns
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who were absolute all stars!”
Feature Image via AsAmNews