Augusta small businesses step up to serve those in need

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Two weeks after Helene hit our area, local businesses are left picking up the pieces.

We checked in with a couple of them who say despite what they were experiencing, it was important for them to get up and running so they could help others.

El Rey on Washington Road is running business as usual, but that was not the case a couple of days ago.

They were without power for 13 days and lost food in one of their coolers.

“Just to restock it. It was around 14 to 15 grand just to restock that one walking cooler. So, I can only imagine for a smaller business or someone who was already struggling. It’s going to be tough to get it back up and running again,” said owner, Ramiro Galvan.

Before Wednesday, they were operating in the parking lot out of their food truck serving first responders and linemen for free.

“We had our food truck, and it was full of police officers on this side and on the other end linemen waiting to get a hot meal. It was amazing. It was amazing that we were able to do that,” said Galvan.

Just like El Rey, other businesses found ways to help others, like the Earth Pantry.

They’re a grocery store located on Broad Street.

“We opened right away to make sure that we could get food to those who live downtown, and we also wanted to make sure we could reach the people in the community because I know a lot of the regular box stores were selling out of everything,” said Earth Pantry owner, Alexia Redman.

Despite not having internet and a boil water advisory in place, Redman says they were still able to work around this so people could get necessities.

“We were able to provide water from our sinks using the boiler along with cold soaking pasta, rice. We just liked being a safe haven, doing what we can because we know people were stressed out, struggling, worrying about how they were going to feed their kids,” she said.

Around the corner at Taco Cat, they say their main concern first was their employees and making sure they were okay.

“Last week was voluntary. We worked with the people who chose to show up. Some people couldn’t afford not to work so we offered them a space to be able to work,” said Director of Operations for Frog Hollow Hospitality Group, Breannah Newton.

She says giving people a place to come and eat is a priority for them.

“Creating a sense of normalcy for a lot of people is really important to us,” said Newton.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.