Customers Help Vienna Business Stay Afloat With Fundraiser

VIENNA, VA — Winter isn't usually a busy season for Sita Adhikari's Dairy Queen in Vienna, a staple for 22 years at 304 Maple Avenue West. But this winter, the pandemic has made it harder to pay the rent and bills.

So when Sita put up a donation box asking for help to get through the winter, customers took notice. Sita's concerns that she may not be able to stay open were shared by a customer in the Vienna Foodies Facebook group.

As the Vienna Foodies have done with other efforts to help people in the community, they stepped up for Sita's Dairy Queen. The group's co-founder started a tab at Dairy Queen for group members to get ice cream on the afternoon of Jan. 19. That led to customers lining up outside the store that afternoon and spending $700 through the Vienna Foodies tab.

But it didn't stop there. Group member Trisha Stotler wanted a GoFundMe fundraiser for Sita and decided to run the effort herself.

"Winter is usually hard but summer didn't bring in enough money this year to pay for summer," Stotler told Patch.

That fundraiser had an initial goal of $5,000 but raised thousands in the first hours alone. In the end, 214 donors raised over $11,000. After factoring in GoFundMe fees, the fundraiser had $10,805 to provide to Sita. On Saturday, Stotler and others gathered at Dairy Queen to present Sita with the check for $10,805.

Sita told Patch business is hard this time of year, but she's hopeful things will get better. She thanked customers for their support in remarks.

"Thank you so much. We appreciate your unconditional love for my family and I," she said.

For customers like Stotler, the fundraiser was one way to thank a business that seems like more than a DQ franchise location. That location has been around for the entire 15 years her family has lived in Vienna.

"It's not about Dairy Queen. It's about Sita," Stotler said. " We love her. She's here every single day. She knows people's names. She knows people's orders."

SEE ALSO: How The Vienna VA Foodies Group Grew Into A Movement For Good