Gounardes, community donors raise $5,000 for COVID-19 relief

June 25, 2020 Jaime DeJesus

Photo courtesy of State Senator Andrew Gounardes

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State Senator Andrew Gounardes has raised $5,000 for COVID-19 relief help for local organizations.

The donations were made to International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the EMS FDNY Help Fund from community donors. The senator’s campaign matched donations up to $22. The funds were provided to IRC for community food distribution.

In total, Gounardes raised $1,900 from his campaign and $3,100 directly from the community.

A total of $2,997 was raised for IRC for community food relief and $2,000 was raised for EMS FDNY Help Fund.

“I’m deeply proud of our community for coming together to provide relief to our neighbors in this crisis,” said Gounardes. “Through our campaign matching grassroots donations to make the dollars go farther, we were able to increase food distribution to those in need and support EMS as they responded to thousands of calls every day. We have worked together to get through this crisis and that’s how we’ll rebuild from it.”

Anthony Almojera of EMS spoke about the donations.

“As a board member of EMS FDNY Help Fund, I want to thank Andrew Gounardes for recognizing the importance of supporting our FDNY EMS now and as we move to reopen the city in the time of COVID-19,” he said. “The EMS play a daily front-line role in keeping our city safe and the safe reopening of NYC will proceed due to their ongoing efforts.”

“We are so grateful to Senator Gounardes, his amazing team, and members of the community for this incredible generosity,” added Executive Director, IRC in New York & New Jersey Avigail Ziv. “These funds will help more families receive crucial support at a time when so many are in need.”

In April, Gounardes joined World Central Kitchen and IRC to distribute 1,200 meals two times a week at his office at 8018 5th Ave.