30 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 13, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Astoria bar hosts fundraiser for kids fi ghting cancer
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
adomenech@qns.com
@AODNewz
Astoria’s Beans & Lager will host a
musical charity event on Saturday Dec.
15 with all proceeds going to the St.
Baldrick’s Foundation, a nonprofi t organization
that raises funds for cancer
research.
Th is is the fi rst year that the Astoria
bar will host the 6th Annual Andy Mac &
Friends Fundraiser which was started by
Brooklyn musician Andrew McNamara
in 2012, shortly aft er his two-year-old
niece Fiona went into remission from
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
“It was hell on earth,” said McNamara
about the year the toddler began her battle
with cancer. ” Once things settled
down I turned to my sister and said I
want to help families like ours but I don’t
know any organizations.”
Immediately McNamara’s sister,
Carolyn Cross, suggested St.Baldrick’s
Foundation.
“I don’t have much money but I
have friends and friends of friends and
everything we make goes straight to St.
Baldrick’s,” said McNamara. Beans &
Lager is not charging the performers
to use their space and all of the artists
involved in the 7 scheduled performances
are working for free. Th e
artists include Melissa Raye, Mark
Radcliff e, Miss Caitlin Bell, Bryan
Dunn, Lara Ewen and Th e Trouble
Twins, and McNamara performing
under his stage name Andy Mac. Th e
house band is comprised of Aaron Kotler
on the piano, Sean Dixon on percussion,
Seth Ondracek on the bass, Kelly
Halloran on the violin and Malin Gibbes
on the saxophone.
McNamara has also started an online
campaign to help reach the goal of raising
$11,188, just one dollar more than what
was raised last year.
Th e generosity of others is always surprising,
and McNamara and his friends
have a habit of beating their fundraiser
Brooklyn musician Andrew McNamara hold’s his niece Fiona who was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic
goals by a huge margin. Th e $500 dollar
goal set during the fi rst fundraiser in
2012 was beat 10-fold.
“At this exact moment our grand total
is $48,411,”said McNamara. “So we’ll
defi nitely make over a grand total of
Photo courtesy of St. Baldrick’s Foundation
$50,000.”
Performances will include a mix of
original songs and holiday classics. Th ere
is a waitlist of 12 so far for the event
which is scheduled to happen from 7 p.m.
to 10 p.m.
Queens County bar spreads goodwill and good cheer
Photo by Walter Karling
The Queens County Bar Association and other
local organizations for lawyers and jurists held
their annual holiday party on Dec. 6 at Floral
Terrace. The attendees enjoyed some holiday
cheer and also spread it by donating gifts for
children serviced by Forestdale Inc., a nonprofi t
foster care agency based in Queens. Shown at the
party are (from left to right) Thomas Principe,
Past President of the St. John’s Law Association
of Queens County; Crisanthy Zapanthis-Melis,
President of the Hellenic Lawyers Association;
Adrienne Williams, President of the Queens
County Women’s Bar Association; Marieeleana
First, President of the Queens County
Bar Association; Patricia Powis, President of the
Columbian Lawyers Association; Judge Jodi
Orlow, Chairperson of the Brandeis Association;
and Richard Gutierrez, Past President of the
Latino Lawyers Association.
leukemia in 2011
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