After years of helping out local charities and organizations, the owner of a community staple could use help of his own.
Mark Heffley recently started a fundraising campaign to benefit his brother, David, who owns the Four Corners Luncheonette in Delmar. David and his wife, Lisa, have dealt with some medical issues over the winter, which have taken a toll financially. The fundraiser, hosted on GoFundMe.com, is seeking to cover additional expenses they have occurred over the last several months while keeping the restaurant operational.
“David and Lisa are in a pretty difficult situation,” said Mark Heffley.
On Christmas morning, David went to visit Lisa in the hospital as she recovered from an emergency surgery. While he was in the hospital, he had his second pulmonary embolism. He ended up staying in the hospital two floors above his wife.
“While I was in the hospital through Christmas, I ended up closing nights for two weeks” at the Luncheonette, said David. “I couldn’t make people work the kind of hours I work.”
David also is a chef at his restaurant and works up to 100 hours a week. Lisa works long hours as a partner of Log Cabin Fabrics, along with doing behind the scenes work at the Luncheonette.
“I just finished paying off Albany Med for my first embolism 18 months ago,” said David. “We have better health insurance now than the first time around. When you are self-employed there is no such thing as disability” or getting paid time off.
Lisa also just went through another surgery. David said she is doing well and is likely to be released early next week.
Mark said his brother works longer hours than anyone he knows. “He has really poured his effort into this place for more than 30 years,” said Mark.
Most of the financial stress for David has come from just keeping the restaurant operational while he was unable to work. He had to give employees more hours to cover his duties during a tough winter with business already taking a hit. David also plows in the winter, but he had to hire someone to cover his plowing duties so his clients weren’t snowed in.
What has been helpful for David through the tough time is how others have been empathetic of his situation. There is a mechanic that’s allowed him to defer payments. His produce supplier has also “been easy” about slow payments.
“What my brother is hoping is that I can pay-off my friends and get back on track,” said David. “My goal is to pay-off everyone that has been helping me along.”
Admittedly, David said it’s “weird” to have a fundraiser supporting him. “I have never asked for help,” he said.
Mark did not expect his brother to ask people for assistance, which is why he spearheaded the fundraiser. Setting it up on GoFundMe.com also allowed Mark to easily manage it, because he lives Georgia.
“He wouldn’t have done this [fundraiser] himself and wouldn’t tell people who come in … he definitely needs the help right now,” said Mark. “He has gotten some of (the money) already and he said it was very helpful.”
Mark thought community members would want to help David and Lisa out if they knew about their situation.
“I think it would certainly make him feel like he is appreciated” if people donated to the fundraiser, said Mark.
For years, David has been on the opposite end of fundraising and charitable donations. He views it as just a part of being in business, but his outreach has stretched beyond giving out gift certificates.
“It is just part of being a business, being a community,” he said. “It is real people and it is not just sort of nebulous money you throw away.”
He has provided thousands of “Performance Muffins” for Tour de Cure bike riders, according to Mark. David has also formed a team for Tour de Cure and is trying to fundraise for this year’s event. Some regular participants will even start chanting “muffin men” when they see anyone riding up wearing one of his team’s jerseys.
“It is a lot of fun and you meet the great people at these things,” said David.
He has also participated annually in the “Cooks for Kids” fundraiser, which supports an inner-city reading program for disadvantaged children. Some other charitable ventures have included preparing holiday dinners for the homeless in Albany, donating food to customers being treated for cancer and several instances of donating food to fundraisers.
To make a donation visit www.gofundme.com/charitablechef and click the “donate now” button. As of Sunday night, more than $3,000 had been raised towards the $20,000 goal.
