One local restaurant is feeling the love of the community behind them.
Churrasqueira Galo Inc. owner Clara Sousa left her Red River Road Portuguese takeout restaurant shortly after 1 a.m. Friday.
She returned four hours later to find the restaurant's sign vandalized, smashed with a large rock.
"Pieces of the light from inside the sign were on the sidewalk. We just thought 'What happened? What's going on? Why did this happen?'" she said Saturday afternoon.
Sousa reported the incident to the police and called their insurance company. However, their insurance doesn't cover signage and windows.
It will cost the Sousa family $2,000 to replace the sign; it's a repair they can't afford at the moment because they're still recovering from the losses suffered from a gas leak in the area in June.
"We didn't recover from one (incident), then there is a second one. It really hurts your business," Sousa said.
The incident has been discouraging for the family-run business, but then Saturday a woman walked into Galo and handed over $20 to go towards replacing the sign.
"I just started crying. I couldn't believe it," said Sousa.
"This lady didn't know me from anywhere and she's giving me money to help replace the sign."
What Sousa didn't know at the time was a Facebook campaign was started on the Evolution of Tastitude page by Richard "House" Moorey early Saturday morning.
"I hate to see this happen to any business especially restaurants," posted Moorey, pledging $10 initially.
It wasn't long before countless others had joined in, pledging up to $510 by 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Moorey hopes to raise the full $2,000 by Monday.
Seeing the generosity of the community, Sousa was emotional.
"I don't even have words," she said.
Moorey is directing anyone wanting to help out to drop off their donation at Galo and say it's a Tastitude pledge.
