HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Earlier this week, the future of Oto Velez's career looked bleak.
"If you would have asked me on Monday or Tuesday, I wanted to give up," he said.
His food truck, Guavate Oto, caught fire Monday.
"Monday morning, my son and an employee were cleaning the food truck at 3 pm. As they were throwing out the trash, they realized that smoke was coming out of the truck. My son called me immediately, scared. I live 6 to 7 minutes from here, so I rushed over, and from 301, I could see the smoke," he explained. "I said, 'God, I lost everything; I lost my truck.' "
Velez says there was an electrical issue with the fridge in the truck. That issue led to the fire.
"All I could do was cry and plead to God," he said.
But the feelings of despair quickly went away. The minute Velez posted about the fire on Facebook, the community began to help. Eventually, he was introduced to Jose Ortiz.
"The day that the incident happened, the next day, I woke up to, like, 25 text messages and people texting me, calling me, messenger. 'Hey, go over there help him out, see what you can do.' And that was around seven o'clock in the morning, around 10:30. I was already here and trying to lend a hand," Ortiz said.
By Friday afternoon, Jose Ortiz and his crew got to work repairing the truck free of charge. Ortiz owns L Banks Enterprise LLC. A business dedicated to building and renovating mobile shops just like Velez's.
"I must have said to everybody before, like, you know, we're the Hispanic community; we got to help each other out. And you know what, like, I always say, you know, today for me, and tomorrow for him. So it's the way it'll make me feel happy," he said
Ortiz says what makes it even more special is watching the joy come from Velez.
"Yesterday, he was smiling. You know what, we're here till 10 o'clock at night. You know, we got pictures. He's happy making jokes. So that's what matters. When I first came in on Monday, he was crying and stuff. So it's been a change. And I'm happy to be part of that change," he said.
This isn't the first time Oto has dealt with tragedy. His original food truck was destroyed during Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
"Like most things, Hurricane Maria didn't care and destroyed my business and my dream, but it didn't destroy my will to keep pushing forward," he said.
But this time, it's different. By Saturday, Ortiz. He hopes to finish his work. Velez still needs new equipment and to restock. However, his eyes are set on reopening within the next two weeks. But, he says that quick turnaround wouldn't be possible with the Tampa Bay community.
"Strangers have cried together with us. Because of them, I have been able to keep going."
If you want to donate to help Velez pay his employees and purchase other necessary items, you do so HERE.
