The community has been coming out in droves to bring supplies to first responders after Hurricane Irma. In Pasco County, restaurants and residents have been making sure they’re fed for their non-stop work.
- Pasco community feeds first responders during non-stop work
- Feeding Tampa Bay to provide food to Hurricane Irma victims
- 211 service helping hurricane victims find resources they need
“We served firefighters here. I had sheriff’s deputies from Citrus Park that came here because everything was closed,” said Christo Papapanos, owner of Christo’s.
Papapanos has owned Christo’s for 14 years and knows how to help when it comes to first responders who haven’t had a decent meal.
“It’s not about money, it’s about heart you got to have on days like this,” said Papapanos. “We all have to come together and help one another.”
The past few days they have been cooking for the National Guard and other first responders housed in the old Target building off State Road 54. Thursday’s menu was wraps, burgers, and fries delivered to their door.
It’s not just Christo’s, other restaurants and residents have been coming out in droves.
“We looked over and they were eating MREs, and we all looked over and said, 'Man, these guys need food,'” said owner of Sioux City Steakhouse, Ryan Lincoln. “So we just walked them over to tons of food, and they ate it up.”
Since then, the Florida National Guard has been able to save their pre-packaged meals for hot food.
“It’s heartwarming to see that they’ve wanted to help us and they’ve wanted to help the community to get these supplies,” said Lt. Matthew Wagner. “It’s been amazing, we’ve been taking in supplies for about the past 24 hours continuously.”
A welcoming community and a nice treat after living off what they could while stationed in Fort Myers when Hurricane Irma came through.
The National Guard says it’s grateful for the donations, but at this point it has received enough food from the community to keep them going.