Queen Ashtar GoFundMe: Fundraiser raises over $47,000 for Windsor, ON restaurant

Queen Ashtar is a local Iraqi restaurant in Winston, Ontario, Canada. For some time, the restaurant has not been raking in good profits, but a chance meeting with TikTok star Zachery Dereniowski went in favor of the joint. Zachery is famous for his TikTok videos that center around mental health and helping and uplifting random people he meets on the street.

Despite the restaurant's low profits, the owner of Queen Ashtar, Nadira, decided to offer food to the TikTok star, who pretended to have no money. Dereniowski surprised her with $1000 and started a GoFundMe geared towards helping the kind owner with restaurant expenses. The GoFundMe campaign has amassed $48,836 at the time of this article's writing.

Nadira, the owner of Queen Ashtar (Image via TikTok/@mdmotivator)

Zachery Dereniowski posted his encounter with Nadira on his TikTok account, @mdmotivator, with over 16.8 million followers. The video, posted on Sunday, July 23, received over 5.5 million views on the platform. It was reposted as a reel on Dereniowski's Instagram handle, @mdmotivator, and it also amassed an incredible 5 million views.

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Zachery Dereniowski started the GoFundMe to help Nadira deal with Queen Ashtar's expenses

The day Zachery Dereniowski encountered Nadira in her restaurant, he started a GoFundMe to help her with expenses. The fundraiser was set with a target of $50,000 and has reached $48,836 from over 2100 donations at the time of this article's writing.

"Earlier today, I visited Nadira’s restaurant, told her I had no money, and she decided to feed me for free — despite being only her second customer of the day," Zachery wrote on the GoFundMe page.

The GoFundMe page

He talked about how he surprised her with $1000 but was taken aback when she mentioned that the restaurant had only made $200 this month until she met him. This is what inspired him to start the fundraiser.

"Let's all come together and show Nadira and her restaurant, Queen Ashtar, the power of the internet and bless her family. All funds raised will go directly to her restaurant expenses. Be kind and love always," he wrote.

Donators praised Nadira for her kindness (Image via GoFundMe)

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Video of Zachery in Queen Ashtar goes viral

In the viral video, the TikToker could be seen talking to the Queen Ashtar owner, telling her he didn't have any money but would like something to eat as he was starving. Nadira instructed the man to sit down and have a seat. "Are you sure?" asked Dereniowski, "It's okay," replied Nadira. However, the TikToker told her that he felt bad, but Nadira said:

"No it's okay, don't feel bad, because it's food you know. It's food, just food."

Dereniowski asked her why she was helping him, and she replied that it was because he was Jesus.

"Jesus in the bible, he said, "I was hungry and you feed me" so I'm helping you because one day, I will come and I will ask for help and you will do for me. We are human," Nadira explained.

Nadira handed him a package of food and told him that it was okay and that he did not need to pay.

"What's your dream?" Dereniowski asked Nadira.

"My dream? Just for my son to be okay. I just want him to be healthy, that's it. That's what I want," she replied.

One user claimed to have worked with Nadira and praised her for always being a positive and caring person (Image via Instagram/@mdmotivator)

As Dereniowski gave her $1000 in cash, he said:

"I actually wanted to surprise you because you were kind to me."

He explained to a stunned Nadira that the cash was for her business, her family, and whatever she wanted to use it for. Nadira revealed while tearing up that from the start of July, they weren't even able to make $200 until this day.