CHATHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The owner of Larry’s PX in Chatham is picking up the pieces following a disaster.
A car crashed into the building last year.
Now, the community is rallying to help rebuild.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” said owner of Larry’s PX, Jay Case. “For a long time, we were waiting for insurance, and they didn’t want to touch anything in here, they want to look at it.”
In the meantime, a group of locals banded together to create the “Larry’s Angel Committee,” and organize an in-person benefit.
“I woke up the Friday after Thanksgiving and I called Kellie. I said ‘Kellie, we have to do something,'” said Sophia Malita, co-owner of Knox Landing. “This is just a terrible tragedy, and we have to raise money for them. And she said ‘let’s go!'”
“I had made a bunch of phone calls to people that I want on the committee, that I knew were going to get the job done,” said Kellie Trombi, co-owner of Knox Landing. “We sold over 360 tickets. The place was absolutely mobbed. We had an amazing auction that raised tons and tons of money.”
It all started out as a Go-Fund-Me with a small goal. Together, the community raised over $165,000.
“It wasn’t even just the immediate community. One of the things that struck me were that, this is a touristy area during the summer months, and there were a lot of people that reached out,” said local artist Vangie Collins. “People that don’t live anywhere near Chatham, Massachusetts. So it really was a collaboration of the world.”
People on the committee say the diner is a staple in the community, and they’re looking forward to the re-opening of their favorite restaurant.
“I mean, someone tried to get in here this morning to have breakfast,” said Kellie. “So people are very anxious, and as soon as they open these doors, everyone is going to flood right back into Larry’s PX.”
Palsforlife.com is the original organization that raised the initial funds and covered the expenses involved that made the rest of the fund raising possible.
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