DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A community is rallying around a food truck operator whose vehicle was totaled after a drunk driver hit it.
Marcelo Rossano is the owner of Rossanos Pizza Place in Delray Beach.
He wanted to share his passion for food with others, and it led him to convert a vintage camper into a food truck in December of last year.
"I was making Neapolitan pizzas. That was what my truck was. So this is a completely different thing than what i was doing," Rossano said.
But after leaving an art exhibition in Wynwood two weeks ago, his dream of building a food business crumbled after the camper was hit by a wrong-way drunk driver.
"I hope whatever that he caused, he’s thinking about it. I hope that this is a way for him to change and change his way because God changed my way with the help of the community," Rossano said.
On Sunday night, supporters had the opportunity to help Rossano at Hopportunities, a craft beer and wine bar that held a fundraiser for the Rossano family.
"We’ve done a lot of rallying over the last year. Between COVID, we’ve learned that you know the more support we can lend to each other, the more successful we can be," said John Macatangay, the owner of Hopportunities.
"They just responded in a way that I would have never ever imagined," Rossano said.
Rossano hopes to come out stronger, rebuild, and serve the food that people fell in love with.
"I am going to make sure that those people who they know that I love them and family love them very much. They changed my life forever," Rossano said.
