The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on many people and families. From losing loved ones to losing jobs and businesses, the virus has taken things away from everyone. Some people have been struggling to survive with their children, especially with paying bills, keeping up with remote learning, and keeping the faith. But, some people really know how to make things work in tough times.
Unsplash | Patrick Tomasso
Mom Of Six Gets $1 Million Surprise To Repay Her Pandemic Kindness
Recently, the popular social media page Humans of New York did a story on a New York City bar owner.
Mary O'Halloran, the owner of New York City bar Mary O’s located at 32 Avenue A, was the feature of one of the Humans of New York stories this month.
Her story is one of thousands but struck a chord with many individuals about what it means to suffer through the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2020, her bar was shut down two days before St. Patricks Day, the busiest day of the year for her bar.
O'Halloran shared that her husband, who is a longshoreman, was stuck on the Aleutian Islands for nine months when the pandemic began.
She was left alone with her six kids who were all in school remotely. Managing this and a bar was something not many could do.
The mom decided to use her bar for the kid's school setting.
"I pulled all the furniture out of the bar, and made a section for each of them: pillow, blankets, everything they needed. Then I had to figure out how to survive. Other bar owners were just throwing up their hands, but I had to try something," she said.
O'Halloran decided to turn her bar into a public service.
"I began catering dinners for emergency workers at a nearby hotel. It wasn’t much money, but it was something to do. Each night I’d cook dinner for thirty people. The kids would help when they could: peeling potatoes, washing dishes," she continued.
However, the mom and business owner was "exhausted" and struggling to make ends meet.
Fortunately, many regular customers pitched in to help out a lot.
"My regulars kept showing up. They ran errands for me. Sometimes they’d take the kids on walks to give me a break," she said.
One band that played at the bar regularly helped O'Halloran set up an online shop to sell scones.
O'Halloran used her mother's Irish recipe to reach people all over.
Then, a reporter from NY1 came by to do a story on the bar and how she was running it with just her kids during the pandemic.
"It created big scone hype for a few months. It wasn’t a ton of money. I was only making $1800 for 100 boxes of scones. It wasn’t paying rent or anything. But it was something to do, you know," she said.
After the story was shared online, the owner of Humans of New York created a shop for the scones.
The website that Brandon, the owner of Humans of New York, created immediately took off after sharing the story of this family.
And, days later, the organization reported that O'Halloran had orders that totaled $1 million in revenue for scones.
And, the bar has been packed ever since.
Many people in the city began to stop by Mary O's for a drink and to say hi to Mary and her children.
In addition, many people online began to comment saying they wanted to stop in the next time they took a trip to New York City.
On top of that, Humans of New York started up a GoFundMe for the family, too.
While many people ordered the scones handmade by the O'Halloran family, others decided to make a donation through the GoFundMe page that Humans of New York created for the family.
It's so amazing to see the world helping others!
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