Donations Pour In For Coffee Shop Ravaged By Metra Station Fire

WHEATON, IL — For many commuters who caught their trains at the Wheaton Metra Station, Java Connection was their last stop before boarding or their first stop after getting off. The small coffee shop, which was housed inside the station, was destroyed in the fire, but community members have recently raised more than $10,000 in an effort to help its owners pick up the pieces.

Each morning for nearly a decade, Yung and Sam Oh drove to Wheaton from Arlington Heights to start brewing coffee for Wheaton commuters before daybreak. "They have never once, in 9 years, even closed for a vacation!" Kerry Hoglund Sansone, who started a GoFundMe for the Ohs and their young daughter, wrote.

"They live to connect with every person who daily makes their acquaintance, for these few hours, in this tiny shop, in our Wheaton community," Sansone added in the fundraiser description. Sansone writes that the Ohs support their 10-year-old daughter, along with Sam's mother.

The impact of the Ohs and Java Connection have on Wheaton residents is clear from the outpouring of support the fundraiser, which has only been live for three week. The fundraiser met its goal within just four days and raised the target amount to $10,000 to help the family pay for expenses as they wait on insurance investigations.

As of Christmas, the GoFundMe for the Ohs had raised $10,900.

"The customers that they saw and served - day in and day out - meant the world to them," Sansone writes. It's pretty clear that the Ohs and Java Connection mean an awful lot to Wheaton too.

To donate to help the Ohs, visit the BecauseWheatonCares! The Oh Family.

>>Image via GoFundMe