The chefs and owners of a beloved Park Slope restaurant, Applewood, are raising money for the family of an upstate farmhand who died at the end of September in a car accident. Micah David Weiss, 22, worked at Lucky Dog Organics, a farm that provides vegetables to the rustic eatery for its entirely organic menu.

After Weiss’s death, restaurateurs David and Laura Shea decided to enlist the help of their customers to raise funds for Weiss’s fiancée, Alese Joslin, 20 (who is three months pregnant), and their daughter Lonnie, 3. Included with every bill that customers receive after dinner is a small notice telling diners about the accident and the family and giving them the opportunity to help either financially or with warm thoughts directed toward the family.

For the Sheas, the fundraiser is a gesture of help and appreciation toward Weiss, Ms. Joslin, and their work at Lucky Dog, which is in Hamden, N.Y., about 150 miles and 3 hours north of the city near the Catskill Mountains. But it also reflects the Sheas’ philosophy toward sustainable cooking and living. All of the food that the Sheas serve at Applewood, from greens to goats, is organic and free-range, sourced from farms in upstate New York, Vermont, and elsewhere. Through this work, the couple has gotten to know the farmers themselves, and has previously introduced them to patrons of the restaurant: When Lucky Dog was flooded during the summer of 2006 — washing out the farm’s yearly crop of such vegetables as baby arugula, spinach, and Magenta lettuce at a loss of $200,000 — the Sheas brought farm owner Richard Giles down to the Brooklyn restaurant for a benefit dinner and auction. This past summer, the restaurant held two “Meet the Farmers” dinners, featuring products from Sweet Grass Dairy in Georgia and Hardwick Beef in Vermont.

Weiss, who was an only child while growing up in Reedsburg, Wis., had met Ms. Joslin in Hamden while living with some of Ms. Joslin’s friends. They began dating four years ago, when Ms. Joslin was 16 and Weiss was 18. He had graduated from Delaware Academy in Delhi, N.Y., before working for Lucky Dog. The couple was planning to marry this winter. “Everybody liked him, he was an easy-going guy,” Ms. Joslin said yesterday in a phone interview.

Ms. Joslin’s siblings and mother also work at Lucky Dog: Her mother cooks lunch at the farm every day. “We’d all get along great at the farm because everyone on the farm were my sisters and my brothers, and they acted as if they were his sisters and brothers,” Ms. Joslin said about Weiss’s relationship to her family. Ms. Shea said that holding the fundraiser was a no-brainer. “When we talked to Richard on the phone about doing this, he seemed surprised,” she said at the restaurant yesterday. “But it’d be crazy not to do this when we have this platform, and we have this audience.”

Applewood starting collected donations last Tuesday, and has raised about $900 so far. Ms. Shea wasn’t certain when they would end the fundraiser, but said that she would go with a “gut feeling” when she felt like the restaurant had done all it could.

The Sheas heard about the tragedy through Brooklyn-based photographer Dana Matthews. Ms. Matthews’s photos of Lucky Dog Organics — including one of Ms. Joslin in a field — had already been hanging on the walls of Applewood for about a month before the accident occurred, which Ms. Shea described as an “eerie coincidence.” She also said that the largest number of donations comes from the two tables situated under the photo of Ms. Joslin.

Tearing up while talking about the accident, Ms. Shea said that the fundraiser was a reflection of the restaurant’s responsibility to the farmers who supply food to Applewood. “If something bad happens and we have the capacity to help, we will,” she added.

Ms. Joslin herself is warmed by the support she and her family have been receiving. “It’s been great how everybody’s been,” she said. “I’m more happy for my kids. There’s something there to help take care of them. I’m really surprised by how many people have come out and are helping.”

Donations can be made at Applewood restaurant, 501 11th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues, Park Slope, Brooklyn; or by contacting Laura Shea at 718-768-2044 or info@applewoodny.com.