RUSKIN, Fla. — Hurricane Helene and Milton flooded a Ruskin restaurant, but the owner found a new purpose to help others.
Julie Cockerham has owned the Fish House since 2008.
"We like to consider ourselves like an old Florida style, very simple, just like I am. We fry almost all our food because that's how we like it," said Cockerham.
Cockerham said Hurricane Helene flooded the patio-style restaurant. Hurricane Milton added additional damage to the exterior building.
She temporarily closed the restaurant on West Shell Point Road. She turned the patio area into a distribution site.
Cockerham and volunteers are collecting donations and then helping those impacted by the hurricanes.
"There have been thousands of people that we've helped since the first storm and this immediate community a lot of people hadn't even recovered from the first storm," she said.
She updates the Fish House Facebook page with information on how the community may help or get help.
"We had a family that had six children in their household in a two bedroom home and they had nothing...to help those people with anything with food, clothing, toiletries, personal hygiene products. It was just awesome to help even one person," said Cockerham.
Brittny Bishop started volunteering after Hurricane Helene.
"I never left. I just kept coming back because it's very rewarding. It's been nice to have the hands around here to help people," she said.
Cockerham said she hopes to make repairs and reopen the Fish House sometime in the future. To help with the cost of repairs, a GoFundMe page has been created.
She said she is focused on helping the community.
"I am definitely going to move forward. It's probably going to be a slow process and I've kind of put that on the back burner for right now because we've been so blessed to help so many people."
Currently, she is collecting donations, including non-perishable food items and canned foods.
For more information, follow the Fish House on Facebook.
"It doesn't make any sense."
FEMA guidelines for debris removal do not include condos or condominiums because they are considered commercial enterprises. A public information officer for the City of Clearwater told ABC Action News, "We are not removing debris from condos; we do consider them commercial."
