Merchants Make It Their Business To Help

Disaster Spurs Local Fund-Raising Effort After seeing the destruction Hurricane Katrina left on the Gulf Coast, Dave Sonifrank decided to lend a helping hand, and he has enlisted other local business owners to do the same. Sonifrank, owner of the Smokin’ Pig on East Wolfe Street, plans to donate at least 20 percent of his restaurant’s sales on Friday to relief efforts in the Deep South. New Orleans and other communities in Louisiana and Mississippi have been wracked with damage from Katrina’s high winds and rain and the flooding that followed. "I don’t know a soul down there, but I know a lot of people down there have lost their homes and more," Sonifrank said. "They need as much help as they can get." Sonifrank expects to raise at least $500, which he will give to a relief organization to use in the Gulf Coast. Sonifrank won’t be alone. He challenged other area businesses on Tuesday to contribute, and some have accepted. Dave’s Taverna will offer 5 percent of its sales Friday to the relief efforts. Owner Dave Miller said he hopes what he contributes can be of use. "Mother Nature is a scary thing. These kinds of things happen," Miller said. "You do what you can to try to help out." Other businesses that have responded to Sonifrank’s call include Spotless Car Wash, Simmons Cut & Tan, Bridgewater and Harrisonburg Fitness and Glen’s Fair Price, which all intend to donate a portion of their Friday and/or Saturday sales. Charities Pitching In Meanwhile, the Salvation Army of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is accepting cash donations for hurricane relief. Susan Williams, director of development for the local Salvation Army office, said all money it collects goes directly to assist the victims. Williams said it makes more sense to send money now than food, because there may not be space to store the goods. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Verona has set aside some 30,000 pounds of its collected food for the hurricane victims. Mark Hackley, a food bank spokesman, said the local assistance group is on standby to help in the Gulf Coast. But it will wait for food banks closer to the devastation to act first. Residents can donate food to the Blue Ridge food bank, but the group is also asking for financial donations locally and to America’s Second Harvest. www.dnronline.com