Bareburger is doing more good than just serving some of the greatest fries in town.
The all-natural burger restaurant, which has multiple locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, wants to help a Erin Cronican, a 39-year-old who was recently diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.
The actor, director and career coach for actors also runs an indie theater company with her boyfriend Brandon Walker, a server at Bareburger’s newest location in Columbus Circle.
Bareburger learned of Cronican’s illness when Walker asked for a day off so he could accompany her to the hospital.
?Of course I wanted to help in any way possible,” said Matt Kouskalis, who owns BB City LLC, which operates Manhattan’s four Bareburgers. Within hours of planning a fundraiser for Cronican, Kouskalis gained the support of Bareburger’s national headquarters, expanding an upcoming fries fundraiser to all sixteen NYC locations.
amNewYork has been told that Cronican’s cancer is very aggressive and that next week she will be starting five months of chemotherapy.
Since being diagnosed in May, Cronican has been in seemingly good spirits as she tweets and blogs about her illness and experiences at @erincronican and erincronican.blogspot.com.
“At my pre-op appointment for getting a port inserted for chemo. ‘Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra. La-la how the life goes on…,’ ” she tweeted last week.
On Thursday, she shared a picture of herself in a post-op hospital gown and said, “I’m alive, and part robot!”
Unfortunately, not all of this illness is about tweeting fun hashtags and emojis.
Cronican’s insurance won’t cover all of her treatment, and her out-of-pocket cost is said to be $10,000. Because she won’t be able to work for half a year, Bareburger has decided to hold a fundraiser on her behalf.
On Wednesday, Aug. 19, donations made toward Cronican’s treatment will be rewarded with a free side of fries at any of Bareburger’s 16 locations.
In October, Bareburger plans to hold fundraisers for Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Cronican has also created a listing at posthope.org on additional ways to contribute.
