Upstate New York Business Asks For Help After Viral Scandal

The drama regarding an Upstate New York restaurant's racist rant has taken another interesting turn.

Owners started a GoFundMe to help their "family and small business recover."

What Happened

If this is your first time learning about the issue regarding Taste Of Italy in Latham, New York, here's what happened.

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The eatery went viral after posting a comment on Facebook regarding the death of a 7-year-old boy who went missing.

In a Facebook comment, the official Taste of Italy Facebook account wrote the following in a comment about the 7-year-old's death:

Let's not forget if that boy lived in a Muslim country his Muslim family would have killed him a long time ago. Muslims should go back to their 50 plus Muslims countries. They want to bring their horrific fake religion here. It's not a religion it's a terrorist organization. No Muslim should be in any place of Authority in America.

Alyssa Cappello, a co-owner of Taste of Italy, later confirmed she wrote the comment, thinking she was posting from her personal account.

After the comment, Taste of Italy announced it was closing for the "foreseeable future" due to protests and intense online backlash from the comment.

The closure turned out to only last one day.

Once the business reopened, the protests returned. One protester was identified as the "2004 Columbia High School shooter."

Alyssa told CBS 6 in early July that the comment cost Taste Of Italy at least $30,000. A large part of that money was due to "fake orders being placed."

Family Starts GoFundMe

Alyssa started a GoFundMe to help the family business recover.

"For years, our family has dedicated our lives to building seven small businesses that support local families, create jobs, and serve our community. Recently, everything changed," Alyssa wrote in the GoFundMe. " After I made a social media comment expressing my fears about the future and Islam’s role in society, my words caused hurt and offense to many people. I regret that my comment caused pain. While I accept responsibility for what I said, I never imagined the devastating impact that would follow."

She says that since the comment, revenue has dropped by 60 percent and half of the eatery's workers quit.

According to the GoFundMe, donations will:

Keep the businesses open and pay essential operating expenses
Support employees who have lost income
Improve security for our family, employees, and customers
Help provide a safer educational environment for the owner's children
Obtain legal assistance

"This has been the hardest time of our lives, but we remain committed to rebuilding, supporting our employees, and continuing to serve our community," the GoFundMe adds.