COLUMBIA, S.C. — Law enforcement, linemen and public officials have been working around the clock to get communities back on their feet after Tropical Storm Helene. Businesses over in Forest Acres are making sure this hard work isn’t going unnoticed.
“Everybody's working a lot of hours, and every business wasn't lucky enough to be open. We were blessed with having our power turned back on pretty quickly so we were able to make some meals for the city of Forest Acres and the police that were working overtime, and try to chip in and help out,” David Grillo said.
Grillo is the owner of Boca Grande Burritos in Forest Acres, he says after the storm came through the Midlands, his business wanted to give back to the community the best way they could.
“We view ourselves and our business as a part of the community and when something happens to the community, it happens to us as well, not just as a business, but being part of Forest Acres. We wanted to be involved with the healing process and the moving forward process of getting past what the hurricane did,” Grillo said.
Giving away over thirty meals, Grillo says his restaurant doors have been open since the storm for community members without power to grab a bite to eat.
“We're seeing quite a few people from coming down from North Carolina, people from Augusta, people from Orangeburg and Newberry and all around the area that just don't have access to food or power at the moment,” he said.
Forest acres experienced several power outages throughout the storm. Over at the Rockbridge Club, managers say they’ve opened their doors for community members.
“We thought it would be good for us to open up our clubhouse and make it accessible for the public to come and charge devices and use it to work if they needed to. We also opened up our pool showers down at the pool house so people could come and take showers,” Lynn Massey, a manager at the club, said.
And the help didn’t stop there, the club fed linemen and community members all throughout Forest Acres.
“We bought a bunch of burgers and hot dogs and made to go boxes, and we drove around and gave back to the community,”
Massey says giving back is important in this community.
"We’re always here to help, not every community is like that, but we feel like that's very important in the Forest Acres community,” she said.
The Rockrbidge Club is still open to anyone without power or running water, they just ask you to bring your own towel if you plan to use their showers.