RUSKIN, Fla. — Spectrum News first visited The Fish House restaurant in Ruskin right after Hurricane Helene, where storm surge flooded the restaurant and the owner of the restaurant’s home.

Despite the devastation, she took the opportunity to turn her tragedy into something good to help support her community in a time of need, and now, after Hurricane Milton hit, she’s right back at it.

What You Need To Know

  • The Fish House in Ruskin continues its donation drive for victims of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in the area
  • After two storms in two weeks, it is no longer operable as a restaurant, but it is still a hub for people, with dozens of volunteers and donated items

After two storms in two weeks, The Fish House is no longer operable as a restaurant, but it is still a hub for people in Ruskin, with dozens of volunteers and donated items for people in need.

“This is round two,” said Julie Cockerham, who owns restaurant. It’s round two for volunteers, and distributing donations to Ruskin families in need after back-to-back hurricanes, with Helene and Milton.   

“In Helene, almost all of my equipment was ruined from the water and the surge of, the electrical surge, it ruined everything and then this time it was pretty much my tin, my roof, everything else was pretty much cosmetic,” said Cockerham.

Since she can’t open her restaurant, Cockerham is using the space for the community to come together to help each other through this tough time. All of the items there are donations, and the people all volunteered to help distribute them to the hardest hit communities in Ruskin.

“Instead of having people come here to get their needs met, we’re going to go out into the community and find those who are disabled, elderly, stranded because their car was totaled, places like Hawaiian Isles (RV Resort) which is where we’re going to hit today,” she said.

Even a U-Haul was donated to store donations during Milton. Cockerham says all she has to do is post a need on The Fish House Facebook page, and it’s answered.

“The community has been really great, reaching out saying, ‘What can we do?’ So, it’s going to be OK, it’s going to be OK,” she said.

Cockerham says despite her personal losses during Helene and Milton, she still feels blessed.

“First, it’s God. And second, I have a great core of friends and family who are keeping me together and honestly when you think about in the grand scheme of things, you think about people in Cedar Key, or in North Carolina, it could have been so much worse,” she said.

The Fish House Facebook page is where Cockerham is posting any current needs for donations. She says she’ll update it throughout the days as they visit different communities in Ruskin.