If any New Yorker of Asian descent( 血统) needs a safe way to get around, Madeline Park has got their back. Park created an Instagram account called “Cafemaddycab” amid a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes across the US. The account has one goal: to pay the Uber or Lyft fee for any woman or elderly individual of Asian descent in New York in order to help them get to their destinations safely if they feel “unsafe taking the train in NYC".
Park, who had spent a majority of her decade in New York as a “broke student”, knew all too well what it was like to have to take the train or walk home rather than calling a cab because it was too expensive.
Now, she's using money from her own pocket, as well as from other donors, to make sure the cost isn't preventing anyone else from getting a ride. She decided to do so after fearing for her own safety just the other week.
“That's it. I took the train to work last week and every minute of the ride I was stressed," Park said in an Instagram post.“I was afraid that someone was going to walk up and start attacking me.”
One incident still on Park's mind was when “someone set a 29 year -old Asian woman's backpack on fire in the train around Ktown". Park said she was done taking the train while these hate crimes were going on and so should you.
Park started out with $ 2,000 of her own money, which she used to help reimburse(报销) any Lyft or Uber ride up to $ 40 per person. Within two days, donors collectively poured in over $ 100, 000 to help with her efforts. Park started accepting more donations and she expected other cities to start their own cab initiative(倡议).However, it's no small task.
“You have to have the TIME to commit to this and preferably a few people you trust to work with you, and a big heart for our community # StopAsianHate,” Park wrote in an Instagram post.
