‘Run for Chinatown’ Raises $24,000 in Donations to Support Chinatown Businesses & Frontline Workers
We wanted to highlight the amazing accomplishments of our friend and lifelong New Yorker Leland Yu, who ran over 60 miles around his hometown to raise funds for Welcome to Chinatown’s ongoing Feed our Heroes campaign.
Yu, 29, embarked on his ‘Run for Chinatown’ mission the morning of Friday, May 1, and documented the entire 12-hour journey via social media. He challenged his followers to chip in $1 for every mile he ran and wound up raising a monumental $18,000 in a single day, with a total of $24,000 in donations to date — all of which returns to Chinatown businesses via our Feed our Heroes initiative. That $24,000 translates into roughly 2,400 meals, enough to keep frontline workers fed for up to two weeks.
Being able to help the neighborhood who raised him while also showing gratitude to those on the frontlines of the pandemic was reason enough to get him through all 61 miles. “I had many doubts throughout the 12-hours,” Yu admitted. “But I reminded myself of the people that would benefit from each mile that I run and that my pain was nothing.”
Check out his segment on CBS2 below (also here) to learn more about the mental and physical preparation it took to get him toward his 61 mile finish line.
We thank Leland — and all of our friends and supporters — for helping us help Chinatown!
