LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — A Lake Worth Beach nonprofit organization that's dedicated to helping families through the coronavirus crisis is now in need of a helping hand themselves.
Settled in a Lake Worth Beach neighborhood, Above The Sea restaurant serves as a home to the non-profit, Arms of Hope.
"Normally, we would serve anywhere from about 100, 150," said Patrick Livingston with Arms of Hope. "Now we are seeing maybe about 200 or 250, so we’ve almost doubled what we normally do."
From boxed to canned to served hot, their priority is to make sure people in Palm Beach County don’t go hungry.
Livingston said the need got so great, they had drop down to three days a week instead of four. Last weekend only made the situation worse.
"I got a phone call telling me there was smoke coming out the building," said Livingston.
Livingston said the fire was likely started outside the building, but cardboard boxes caused it to spread.
"The fire was actually blazing on the gas pipe, and what saved us is we have a water line hung up about four or five feet above that. The heat started melting that and it burst the pipe," said Livingston.
The fire damaged their plumbing and the building's air conditioning. Even with help from insurance, Livingston is worried they won’t be able to hold their summer youth program.
"How do you say, take a break from eating?" Livingston said. "We can’t take a break. We just have to figure out how to keep going."
To learn more about Arms of Hope, click here, and to donate to the organization through GoFundMe, click here.