Woman honors mom who died of COVID complications with 82 Starbucks orders
After her mother died from COVID-19 complications, Sharon Dunski Vermont sent a message to others in the form of her mother's favorite Starbucks drink.
The 51-year-old, who works as a pediatrician at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, says her 82-year-old mother, Harriet, passed away after battling COVID-19, which she said her mother was exposed to at her nursing facility.
"COVID just made her too weak to survive," Dunski Vermont said in an interview with "Good Morning America."
To keep her mother's spirit alive, Dunski Vermont decided to pay for 82 Starbucks white mochas to celebrate the 82 years her mother was alive.
"To think that her story and her kind of spirit even after her death is impacting 82 other people like that just brings a smile to my face," Dunski Vermont added.
According to Dunski Vermont, a Starbucks white mocha -- extra sweet -- was her mother's favorite drink and that they would often enjoy it together.
Along with each drink given out for free, Dunski Vermont asked the Starbucks workers to give the recipient a note with her mother's story and asking each one to pay it forward by wearing a mask and staying safe.
"It is always touching to see acts of kindness that often occur at our stores. We are moved by the generous gestures being made by our customers, including those choosing to 'pay it forward' for the next customer with a cup of coffee or, in this case, a favorite beverage. We are humbled to be a part of every community we serve and love when our customers connect with our store partners (baristas) and one another," a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement to "GMA."
Dunski Vermont intended to remain anonymous but when the local television station reached out, she decided to share the story in hopes that her message to follow protocol from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would reach other people.
"I'm mad because this shouldn't have happened and unfortunately it did," Dunski Vermont said. "And it's happened to so many people besides my mom, she's certainly not the only one."
