The owner of Bloomington restaurant Indian Palace died unexpectedly of a heart attack on April 6. Community members have so far donated $1,495 to a GoFundMe created Wednesday to support the owner’s family.
53-year-old Satbir Multani is survived by his wife and three children.
Joni Chan, the creator of the GoFundMe, said she was a regular customer at Multani’s restaurant.
“When I saw him last week, he asked me to post on Facebook about offering free food to medical staff during the Covid crisis. He was a kind and generous man,” Chan wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Chan said she and several of Multani’s friends donated directly to his family at first, and as the support grew they decided to create the GoFundMe to easily collect money while social distancing. As the link was spread around Facebook, Chan said the response extended beyond Multani’s close friends to include strangers from the community.
Bloomington resident Ravi Par said he had been a friend of Multani’s since Multani moved here and opened Indian Palace about a year ago. Par said he and his friends have donated about $2,500 to Multani’s family separately from the GoFundMe and plan to donate more.
Par said Multani was a generous person who helped others even though he struggled financially.
“He was struggling but he never complained,” Par said. “He was a very generous person and after he died, I was very sad. I wanted to do something for him.”
Par and Chan said Multani’s wife plans to continue running Indian Palace.
“I talked to his wife last night and she said they don’t have enough money,” Par said. "I said, 'I’ll help you get more business, and even if you need more help and some money, I will help you.'"
Chan said she hopes people will support local businesses more during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people like Multani’s family.
