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The 33-year-old Erie County resident, of West Seneca, told Daily Voice the family had set out Friday morning, Dec. 23, to pick up a relative on the other side of town. On the way back, however, they found themselves caught in one of the worst winter storms the region has seen in decades.
“We shouldn’t have been out there,” she said. “It came sooner and heavier than we thought it would.”
Conditions grew so bad that the couple resorted to using maps on their phones to see what street they were on and what was close by. Sypniewski’s anxiety worsened with each passing minute.
“I was getting like panic attacks," she said. "I had to get out of the car at times in the middle of the blizzard because I felt like I was going to vomit.
“I had my kids with me. It was really a life or death situation.”
After spending roughly an hour trying to get home to no avail, the family pulled into a shopping center in Cheektowaga on Walden Avenue. They first tried seeking refuge at a grocery store, but were turned away.
“So my next move was, all right, let’s try to get toward Target,” Sypniewski said. “My first instinct was, 'I’m going to go bang on the door.' ”
Fortunately for mom and kids, the store’s iconic bullseye logo proved to be a beacon of light in more ways than one. A group of seven employees, stranded themselves, graciously welcomed the family inside, where food, warmth and dry clothes awaited.
The manager later called everyone to the front of the store for a “family meeting” and informed Sypniewski - and about two dozen other stranded drivers - that Target’s corporate office had authorized him to provide all the essentials they would need to make their impromptu slumber party comfortable.
“If you needed food, deodorant, toothpaste, a warm hoodie and socks, air mattresses and blankets, and pillows, it was all provided by them,” Sypniewski said.
The company also served up an endless supply of coffee and hot chocolate from the in-store Starbucks, along with unlimited snacks and other beverages. Employees even set up a TV where everyone could watch the Buffalo Bills game on the following Saturday, Christmas Eve.
“Corporate gave them the okay to say ‘we’re going to take care of these people inside the store,’” Sypniewski said.
That care extended outside of the building as well, where employees worked to keep the entryway shoveled and kept windows from icing over. They occasionally waved in newcomers who, like Sypniewski and her children, found themselves in desperate need of shelter.
Photos shared on Facebook show the family sleeping on inflatable air mattresses in the store’s clothing section, the kids donning pajamas, playing card games, and reading children’s books.
“We have been stranded at Target on Walden since 12 p.m. yesterday. I have never felt so scared in my life, but we are safe and warm!!” Sypniewski wrote on Facebook.
“I cannot say enough to the Target employees who opened their doors to us and have provided everything we have needed. You guys are literally life savers!! We have made a (expletive) situation OKAY!!”
The family was finally able to go home at around 5 p.m. on Saturday, when they were picked up by a friend. It marked the end of an experience that Sypniewski and her family won’t soon forget.
“It was nice to see everybody just come together, all the workers, everybody did their part, everybody had positive attitudes, it really made the best of the situation,” she said.
“I really don’t think they understand that they really saved so many lives. It’s going to be something to talk about for literally the rest of our lives.”
At least 28 people are now confirmed dead in Erie and Niagara counties, where around 4 feet of snowfall, coupled with hurricane-force, lake-effect wind gusts of up to 80 miles per hour, have paralyzed the region for the third day.
As of Monday night, about 50 inches of snowfall had fallen in the Buffalo area, with another 5 to 10 inches possible over the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
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