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Astoria bar hosts fundraiser
for children battling cancer
Astoria’s Beans & Lager hosted the sixth annual Andy Mac & Friends Fundraiser. Courtesy of Andrew McNamara
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Astoria’s Beans &
Lager hosted a musical
charity event Saturday,
Dec. 15, with all the proceeds
going to the St.
Baldrick’s Foundation,
a nonprofit organization
that raises funds for
cancer research.
This was the first year
that the Astoria bar — located
at 33-01 36th Ave.
— hosted the sixth Annual
Andy Mac & Friends
Fundraiser, which was
started by Brooklyn musician
Andrew McNamara
in 2012 shortly after
his 2-year-old niece
Fiona went into remission
from Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukemia.
“It was hell on earth,”
McNamara said 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.”
McNamara’s sister, Carolyn
Cross, immediately
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 did not
charge the performers to
use their space and all
of the artists involved in
the seven scheduled performances
are working
for free.
The artists included
Melissa Raye, Mark Radcliffe,
Miss Caitlin Bell,
Bryan Dunn, Lara Ewen
and The Trouble Twins,
and McNamara, who will
be performing under his
stage name, Andy Mac.
The house band was
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.
The generosity of others
is always surprising,
and McNamara and his
friends have a habit of
beating their fund-raising
goals by a huge margin.
The $500 dollar goal
set during the first fundraiser
in 2012 was beat
ten-fold.
“At this exact moment
our grand total is
$48,411,” McNamara before
the event. “So we’ll
definitely make over a
grand total of $50,000.”
Performances included
a mix of original songs
and holiday classics.
TIMESLEDGER,8 DEC. 21-27, 2018 BT TIMESLEDGER.COM
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