FORT MYERS, Fla — FK Your Diet’s donation pod is back - and this time, it’s on wheels! The restaurant has a new way to keep donations rolling - literally. Just a week after being forced to remove their long-standing donation pod, they’ve found a solution - a box truck was donated to them.
Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski was there covering the loss, and now he went back to see what this means for the restaurant and the community.
Watch what FK Your Diet's owners told Austin:
FK Your Diet has built its reputation on more than just good food. They’ve long supported foster children, and their donation pod provided furniture, clothing, and blankets to families recovering from hurricanes. But that came to a halt after a complaint led to a Lee County code violation that forced its removal.
Now, thanks to an unexpected donation, they’re back in business. “We can get to helping people again! And we can do more,” said FK Your Diet owners Amy Eldridge and Doug Miller. “The box truck will allow us to stop renting U-Hauls and things like that and be a little more mobile.”
And mobility is key - Eldridge and Miller say they’ve had to turn down donations in the past because they couldn’t pick them up. But this box truck changes that and takes their mission to the next level.
“We’ll use that thing to not only deliver furniture and all that, but also food,” Miller said. “You know we do the sheriff’s summer camps. We’ll be able to get our equipment to the schools and where they’re at, and ultimately deliver a better product to the people.”
Plus, this time, Miller said there will be no code violations. The truck was donated by Premier Plumbers after Business Development Manager Jeff Shafer saw the Fox 4 report on FK Your Diet’s loss. Then, he said he saw the community’s Facebook posts about how upset the removal made them, and he knew he wanted to help.
“I thought it’s better to have action rather than the same negativity,” Shafer said. “We can change that negativity and turn it into a positive with this type of initiative we’re trying to do for them.”
The truck was put to use immediately - someone came by to load it up with a donation of suitcases. Next up? Shafer says he’s helping FK Your Diet get the truck wrapped with their logo.
“It’s a gamechanger,” said Miller. “Definitely a gamechanger for us.”
