‘Nowhere to go': Owner asks for community's help after her restaurant catches fire, closes
Cocoa's Jamaican Jerk was operating out of a food truck for ten years as the owner, Paula Brown, worked to open a brick-and-mortar location, she told Channel 9's Eli Brown.
But on Saturday, the building caught fire, damaging much of its interior.
'It's just all gone,' Brown said. 'I'm sorry y'all. I worked hard.'
The University City restaurant employed many students looking for job experience, Brown said. And much of her food went to people in need.
'When I came here, they grasped me, and they loved me, and I love them back,' she said. 'I love them back. I have so many friends here and so many associates, and that's something I've never had in my life.'
READ: Hickory firefighter, 20, dies after medical emergency following overnight fire call
She said she was working at Taste of Charlotte in uptown on Saturday when she got the call that a fire had started in her restaurant.
The Charlotte Fire Department said the fire was accidental and likely electrical.
Brand obtained surveillance footage that caught the sound of flames and the moment firefighters came running inside, but not much more. The lens was likely burned up by that point.
Brown said many of the things in her restaurant that burned were handmade and some of it was sent to her from her now-deceased mother and sister.
'Coming here to Cocoa's was like coming out of my bedroom and into my living room,' she said. 'To invite people into my house and socialize and feed them and cook dinner and stuff like that. Now it's like I'm stuck in my bedroom. It's like there's nowhere to go.'
She is asking for any help she can get. But she knows for sure she wants to leave behind Cocoa's as her legacy and a love letter to the city she calls home.
'I just wanted to be a part of something,' Brown said. 'In Charlotte, I felt a part of when I didn't feel a part of a lot of other things.'
She told Brand that she is unsure of her next steps, but she had a big success at Taste of Charlotte, giving her some hope.
Anyone who would like to help Brown and Cocoa's Jamaican Jerk can visit the Cocoa's Needs Us GoFundMe.
WATCH: Hickory firefighter, 20, dies after medical emergency following overnight fire call
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