Local businesses raise over $5K for owners of Fish & Blues after the Columbus restaurant burned down

 
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Doug Pellum, the owner of Zachary’s, knows firsthand what it’s like to watch one’s restaurant go up in flames.

That’s why he is helping lead the effort to raise $5,000 and counting for the owners of Fish and Blues after they woke up Friday to find their business burning to the ground. 

“They don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring,” Pellum says. “And so, maybe we can just help them out a little bit to let them know that the community loves them. Let them know that the community is here for them and we want them to open back up in Columbus.”

After opening in 2016, Fish and Blues quickly became a local favorite.

“It’s heartbreaking to see (this happen to) small businesses, who’ve had a rough time already with COVID,” says Financial Concepts CEO Scott Ferguson. “It’s been a rough year and then to have another hiccup and a roadblock like this? It was sad to see.”

Lowndes County Firefighters say the building was already engulfed in flames and a total loss by the time they got there.

“We put a lot of hard work into it and pulling up (Friday) just seeing this, it’s just sad,” says Fish and Blues co-owner Tavron Johnson.

But just hours after the building went up in flames, Pellum jumped into action.

“Everybody talks about how the community needs to come together,” he says. “You can talk about it all day long but until somebody actually does something, it’s just talk.”

Pellum organized a fundraiser at Zachary’s Friday and Saturday, with 10 percent of all profits going to Tavron and his mother and fellow co-owner Barbara Johson.

“So many people walked in the door and said ‘Hey, the reason we’re here this weekend is because of what you’re doing for Fish and Blues,'” Pellum says.

Other businesses like Muddy Waters, Rueben’s Fish House and Financial Concepts also came through with what Pellum called “huge donations.”

“When we see things that hit home and that strike a chord with us, we want to do what we can to give back,” Ferguson says.

Pellum says he is happy to see other businesses coming together to help Fish & Blues in their time of need.

“As far as our fundraisers go, we’ve been doing it for years now and in return, what we’ve seen now is that other restaurants, like CJ’s Pizza, are jumping in on the situation,” he says.

Zachary’s will continue accepting donations until Thursday. CJ’s Pizza is collecting donations for the next two weeks and will hold a fundraiser of its own this weekend.

“I got a feeling this is probably not going to be the last fundraiser that’s put together for these folks, I’m sure,” Ferguson says. “Hopefully we get some more folks out for the next one and we get bigger contributions coming in.”