The coronavirus pandemic has been a difficult time for the Astoria community, with many Astorians fleeing to different neighborhoods, avoiding nightlife, and curbing their spending at neighborhood businessesGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. Local business owners Tim O’Connor and Mathew Wong hope to restore Astoria’s strong community spirit through a new campaign of kindness and charity that they’ve dubbed #PayItForwardAstoriaGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.

The initiative is focused on the small favors that Astorians can do to help their neighbors feel like they are part of a welcoming and cohesive communityGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. To get things going, O’Connor and Wong are paying for a set number of free drinks each day at Wong’s business, Tea and MilkGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. Each free drink includes a card stipulating that the recipient must turn around and do a favor for another resident of AstoriaGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. This favor could be a financial one, as in the case of the free drinks—or it could be as simple as holding a door open for a stranger or helping someone carry a heavy bag of groceriesGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.

The idea was the brainchild of O’Connor, the owner of 10 Thousand Foxes TattooGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.

“I told Matt I would like to do something where I pay for a certain amount of his customers’ drinks on a given day, and just ask them to pay it forward with a random act of kindnessGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.”

Wong gave his emphatic approval to the idea and a partnership was bornGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.

“The most important part is that it’s not just marketing our businesses,” Wong saidGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. “It’s us finding ways to give back to the community, as they have supported us throughout these timesGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.”

Along with the #PayItForwardAstoria hashtag coined by one of O’Connor’s apprentices, the instruction cards include the logos of Wong and O’Connor’s businesses—but Wong and O’Connor do not claim ownership of the initiativeGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. They’re excited about the idea of other local businesses jumping in independent of their own effortsGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. 

So far, several other local businesses have joined the campaign, including Give Me AstoriaGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.

“When Matt and Tim told me about the idea, I was so excited,” said Give Me Astoria founder and publisher Sonia MylonasGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. “#PayItForwardAstoria is an amazing initiative that will not only lift our spirits but inspire generosity and compassionGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. The concept is simple, yet anyone can pay it forward by just doing a good deed for someone elseGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. Businesses can jump on board and start their own movementGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. We hope you guys enjoy the drinks and don’t forget to #PayItForwardAstoriaGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.”

The team-up between O’Connor and Wong is a perfect display of the amount of compassion in the Astoria communityGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. The friendship between the two predates O’Connor’s ownership of 10 Thousand Foxes Tattoo; when O’Connor was an employee of the tattoo parlor that preceded his business, they would often meet outside their neighboring workplaces to shoot the breeze during breaksGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. Owning adjacent businesses has only deepened their friendshipGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.

“We really take pride in ownership, pride in the block, and how our businesses affect each other,” O’Connor saidGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028. “We’re in it togetherGive_Me_Astoria_image_00028.”