Yoselin Zoila Campos Mendoza died on Dec. 21. Photo: GoFundMe
Jan. 7, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
The owners of Sunnyside café and bistro Brookside Market have launched an online fundraiser to help repatriate the remains of general manager Yoselin Zoila Campos Mendoza, who died tragically following a short battle with illness before Christmas.
Yoselin, 31, a native of Mexico, died on Dec. 21 after a brief battle with a previously undiagnosed underlying illness.
“It was very sudden. It was very unexpected,” said Tali Custer, event manager at Vortex Hospitality, which owns Brookside Market as well as Ida’s Nearabout, Elder Green, and Fulton Hall.
Yoselin worked with Vortex Hospitality for over a decade at Elder Green and Fulton Hall before becoming general manager at Brookside Market.
“Yoselin has been one of our most cherished friends and a dedicated team member with Vortex Hospitality for nearly a decade,” Vortex said in a statement on GoFundMe. “Yoselin and her husband, Alex, have been integral to the success and excellence of our businesses.”
Yoselin’s husband, Alex Flores, described his late wife as a “radiant, joyful, and giving soul who always put others first.”
“Yoselin was respectful, kind, intelligent, and a deeply cherished wife,” Alex Flores said on GoFundMe. “Her family will always remember her as the life of the party, bringing energy and joy wherever she went.”
Yoselin and her husband Alex. Photo: GoFundMe
Custer told the Sunnyside Post that there has been an “outpouring of love and support” from the local community since Yoselin’s death, with numerous local bars and restaurants donating to the fundraiser to repatriate her remains to Mexico.
“We’re a pretty tight-knit community, especially in Sunnyside, and everyone who owns a bar or restaurant knows one another,” Custer said. “We’ve definitely felt the outpouring of love.”
Since it launched one week ago, the GoFundMe has raised around $10,500 of its $16,000 target to help bring Yoselin home to Mexico. Custer said Yoselin’s family plans to take her to her final resting place in mid-January and added that she hopes the online fundraiser will meet its target by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, a wake for Yoselin took place at Rivera Funeral Home on 37th Avenue in Corona on Sunday, Jan. 5, drawing hundreds of people from the local community and the hospitality industry.
“It was completely packed to the brim,” Custer said. “It was wall to wall like we had to wait about 40 minutes before we could actually get into the main room. It was quite the outpouring of love from the community.”
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