Strong storms barreled across Michigan this week, downing trees and wires; and causing hundreds of thousands to lose power. But during these tough times, individuals—and businesses–have reached out to help others.
As outages started rolling in on Aug. 11, 4 One 2 Distillery in Wayland jumped into action. They posted on their Facebook page that they had power, and invited businesses to store food in their cooler or freezer.
Smoke on the Water BBQ in Caledonia took them up on it. “They really are my heroes,” said co-owner Anna DeVriendt.
The BBQ joint lost power late Tuesday night, and early Wednesday morning DeVriendt, her husband Matt, distillery owner Nissa Smith, and her boyfriend loaded up everything from the freezer; and made the 10-minute drive to the micro-distillery.
“In our freezer was a lot of beef. It’s very expensive. So, for them to be able to save that beef, that was huge for us,” DeVriendt explained.
As a fellow business owner Smith said she understood the tough position the DeVriendt’s were in. “We knew they were going to lose sales and we didn’t want them to lose anything else.”
Smoke on the Water BBQ’s power was restored late Wednesday, but the partnership didn’t end there.
The restaurant donated10% of its Friday sales to 4 One 2 Charity, which focuses on depression and suicide awareness. Smith started the charity after she lost her mom to suicide 14 years ago. The funds will support a balloon festival the charity is holding on Sept. 11 in Wayland.
“They are truly amazing people,” said DeVriendt.
