The online campaign that accompanied The Andy Mac & Friends holiday fundraiser at Astoria’s Beans & Lager reached its goal on Wednesday.
Now, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity that funds cancer research, will receive $11,190 in addition to the $1,500 raised from the Dec. 15 benefit event.
Andrew MacNamara, the Brooklyn-based musician that started the fundraiser six years ago, was turned to social media to express his gratitude.
For the past six years, MacNamara organizes and hosts a holiday fundraising event to raise money for St.Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of his niece Fiona. In 2011, the then two year old was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. After a year that MacNamara can only describe as “hell” now healthy 9-year-old went into remission.
MacNamara, his friends and his family have come together every year since then to work toward saving others from such suffering.
To date, the online campaigns and annual events have raised $52,656 for St.Baldrick’s, according to MacNamara who donated that online campaign’s final $20. He did so in honor of his mother, Fiona’s grandmother, who passed away in 2014.
When asked by QNS how it felt to raise such a sizable amount of funds MacNamara refused to take credit.
“Well … I didn’t raise it. My friends and family did,” MacNamara said. “If I had to guess, it probably feels really damn good.”
