Statesboro Restaurant Rebuilding After Hurricane Helene With Help From DoorDash Grant

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - A Statesboro business owner says she is grateful for a second chance after Hurricane Helene destroyed her restaurant just days after it opened.

Adenike Ogundare, owner of Africaboro — an African restaurant and retail store on West Main Street — opened the business on Sept. 14, 2024. Ogundare moved from Atlanta to Statesboro to launch the restaurant. One week later, Hurricane Helene swept through the area, knocking out power and forcing her to discard nearly all of her prepared food.

Ogundare said the power outage left her with only one day to sell food before it spoiled. After seven days without electricity, she and her staff were forced to throw away everything they had prepared.

“We had been preparing and getting ready for inspections and everything,” Ogundare said. “I had a lot of workers cooking.”

In the months that followed, Ogundare searched for a new location and applied for grants to help keep the business afloat. Last week, she received a $10,000 grant through DoorDash’s Local Business Disaster Relief Fund, which supports small businesses recovering from natural disasters.

Ogundare said the grant will allow her to reinvest in the business, cover some of the debt she accumulated and hire additional staff.

“It feels good because now we’re going to be able to put it back into the business,” she said. “We can absorb some of the debt we acquired, and I can hire more staff. Staffing has been a problem, but now we’re growing every day.”

She said the grant has given her renewed hope and momentum as she continues rebuilding. Ogundare is also preparing to launch an Africaboro food truck in January.