- December 21, 2024
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At a time when the community was left without power following Hurricane Milton, businesses in the area were still powering on the grill.
At different locations in the community, the public had a chance to take a break from cleaning up the storm's damage, to enjoy a hot meal.
Although only a handful of businesses were open in Siesta Key on Oct. 14, the smoke of a grill could be found in a tent just in front of Siesta Key Beach Resort & Suites.
It wasn’t the first location that Bruno Wu, a local personal chef and caterer, had decided to set up shop to put his “energy and action” into the recovery from Hurricane Milton by offering hamburgers and hot dogs.
“People are sick of going through canned goods, or whatever they are eating,” he said, noting that there were many lineworkers in the area and that he had spoken to a resident who said people were having trouble finding food.
On Oct. 13, he had set up at Bee Ridge Road and Cattlemen Road, later heading to Glebe Park in Siesta Key.
"Really nice folks saw what I was doing and donated money," he said.
He said he also wanted to visit the Florida Power & Light staging sites, but could not do so due to restrictions.
Finally, he headed to Siesta Key Beach Resort & Suites due to a family relationship to the owners.
He said that day, Oct. 14, he had been through about 50 burgers and 45 hot dogs.
Resident Susan Molinari, while stopping by to grab a meal, offered compliments to Bruno Wu and Dan McNamara, who was helping cook and serve the food.
"When Siesta Key and Sarasota seems so sad, this is so beautiful," she said.
Wu said he would likely return the next day, thanks to the community’s donations.
It wasn't just the corporate headquarters of Crunch Fitness that helped support the effort to give free hamburgers and hot dogs to the public.
Personal Training Manager Mike Davis said many people in the community also stepped up as well to help at the gym's Bee Ridge Road location on Oct. 12.
“We had all of our Bee Ridge staff,” he said. “Even had a couple of the other clubs in the area that were out of power, came over to support and make sure that we had enough hands on deck to be able to pull it off.”
When their grill began to run out of propane, members at the gym provided it, he said.
The gym also offered the public the chance to use the facilities without being charged for a day pass.
“When there's a time in need like this, this club will always be available to the community for hot shower, electricity, you know, just whatever we have that we can give," he said.
The previous day, the corporate office for Crunch Fitness had dropped off the needed supplies in a van, which included the meat and buns, condiments and plates while Darrick Druce, vice president of personal training, and Peter Cosentino, COO of Crunch Fitness, both visited the location.
“When there's an opportunity for us to give back and be here for the community, they always come through,” Davis said.
Davis said the previous day, the gym had offered almost 500 hamburgers and hot dogs.
Mike Cianciolo, a maintenance staff member at Beneva Ridge Condominiums, said since the storm, he had had no opportunity to cook, as he was busy cleaning up damage around the property.
“This is awesome they're doing this for everybody,” he said.
Longboat Key resident Chris Sachs stopped at ACE Hardware for a quick trip to get some essentials after Hurricane Helene and left with a full stomach.
On Oct. 2, owners Reed and Ginny Savidge had decided to throw a barbecue at their store to bring joy and camaraderie to the island after the surge of Hurricane Helene destroyed many Longboaters' homes.
Ginny Savidge was saddened by seeing all the people without homes, especially those who lived in mobile homes in the Gulf Shore of Longboat Key. Following her grandchildren's suggestion, they hosted a grill out to provide some free food to anyone who needed it.
The Savidge family grilled about 500 hot dogs along with some hamburgers to go with a side of chips and soda.
"I'm always trying to help in any way I can," said Ginny Savidge. "So if it is baby steps like feeding the community, I don't mind. They kept trying to pay, but I would say, 'It just costs your smile.'"
After Hurricane Milton, the Savidges would like to plan another barbecue before the end of October in partnership with Sheila Loccisano's Instagram, Follow Me To Longboat Key. With Locciasano's 214,000 followers, they want to reach as many people as they can.
"It came as a good surprise when I walked into the barbecue," said Sachs. "That is what Longboat is all about, all of us helping each other. It was a spot of light after the darkness. I know it brought that joy that everyone needed."
Michael’s On East Co-Proprietor Phil Mancini started prepping to help feed first responders on Tuesday, Oct. 8, before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Sarasota.
He knew that food purveyors would have trouble getting their trucks down to the area, so he rented a refrigerated truck and stocked it with 10,000 pounds of food.
Michael’s On East was contracted to provide 1,500 to 2,000 meals a day for first responders in a relief effort coordinated by U.S. Tent Rental.
“If we have power and food and a clear path, we’ll be there,” said Mancini. “So far we have all three.”
On Thursday afternoon, Mancini and his catering staff just finished packaging up 1,250 meals that were supposed to go to Tropicana Field, yet got diverted at the last minute due to damage to the stadium’s roof.
They were awaiting the meals’ final destination in Tampa.
Next, they began plating 500 hot meals slated for delivery in North Port and staged containers in an assembly line for 2,000 breakfasts to be made on Friday morning. “They will start cooking at 1 a.m. for breakfast,” said Mancini.
With many of the staff experiencing power outages and damage to their own homes, Executive Chef Jamil Pineda and Executive Catering Chef Carlos Avella were on hand to prep, cook and plate the meals.
Mancini shared that the team can put together 1,000 meals in one hour.
