Business & Tech

Solidarity With Boston Marathon Bombing Victims Inspires Blue Nile Fundraiser

The Ethiopian restaurant in Ferndale opened early Monday and provided a complimentary meal to each patron who donated $50 or more toward One Fund Boston, Inc.

The Blue Nile in Ferndale held a fundraiser Monday to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon bombings and their families, a cause that hit close to home for co-owner Seifu Lessanework.

Lessanework, who owns the Ethiopian restaurant with his wife Fetle, said he lost friends in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and wanted to show solidarity with those who've been impacted by the tragedy in Boston.

The couple opened The Blue Nile early at 2:45 p.m. Monday and provided a complimentary meal to each patron who donated $50 or more toward One Fund Boston, Inc., a nonprofit Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino established following the pair of bombings April 15 that killed three people and injured hundreds.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

One Fund Boston, Inc., had raised more than $27 million as of Monday, the two-week anniversary of the attacks, according to the charity's website.

"We want to show the generosity of the Michiganders and the peoples behind them (in Boston) in order to participate, to feel their pain, to understand what they go through and to be a brother, a father, a sister, and everyone to be close enough as a family for them," Lessanework said.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Lessanework came to the United States from Ethiopia in 1976 and settled in New York. He worked at the iconic Windows on the World restaurant atop the North Tower of the World Trade Center before restaurateur Chuck Muer recruited him to move to Michigan in 1982 to manage his national chain of seafood restaurants, he said.

Lessanework became a Michigander but kept close ties in New York and, following the Sept. 11 attacks, held another fundraiser at The Blue Nile to support the families of Windows on the World victims, he said.

"We came a long way (since 9/11) and it's easy for me to say this, but we will dust our dirt off our body and go on (after Boston)," Lessanework said Monday.

"I promise myself I'll be there for the next (Boston Marathon)," he said. "I'm not going to run, but I'll be there to observe."

Visit www.onefundboston.org to make a donation.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here