Community shows up to support employees of Señor Manuel Mexican restaurant

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- The community held a fundraiser to help the owners and employees of a popular Mexican restaurant that was destroyed in a fire.

Throughout the week more than 50 different businesses sent donations to Benny's Restaurant and Lounge in preparation for today's fundraiser. All of the money that was raised will go to the 26 employees who lost their jobs.

Mika Hernandez runs the Mexican restaurant along with other family members. Their lives were turned upside down after their restaurant Señor Manuel caught on fire last month. The cause of the fire was an electrical malfunction within a neon transformer. This benefit fundraiser meant a lot to them.

"Very emotional because we care about them, and we want them to be okay, and we want to retain them, when we reopen and we will reopen. We want to make sure that our staff is with us," said Hernandez.

After hearing this devastating news Benny's wanted to help them out. They made a post on social media and right away people started dropping off items such as gift cards, gift baskets, and other fun items.

"Amount of donations we received came from over 50 businesses in town," said Jaime Novak, bartender at Benny's Restaurant and Lounge. "Just in checks during the week, we have six or $700 from people that came in to deliver that." 

The fundraiser was held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The fundraiser brought in more than $8,000.