Fire destroyed a popular Olivet food truck. Customers are stepping up to help its owner
OLIVET — When Marty Martin's food truck, a converted Coachmen RV motorhome called Truckin' Awesome, caught fire Wednesday he was next door helping people in need.
Now the community's trying to lend him a helping hand.
Martin, 58, was inside a building he rents at the Double Nickel Party Store's parking lot, from which he operates the Olivet Community Resource Center, a food pantry open to anyone in need, when the fire broke out in his food truck parked nearby.
"Somebody knocked on the door and said, 'Hey, your trucks on fire,'" he said. "I looked out the window and you could just see flames coming out the door. By the time I ran the 20 feet to the truck, it was already gone."
The flames reached the food truck's propane tanks and Martin watched as the vehicle, which has been a popular staple and his livelihood for the last five years, was consumed by the fire.
Martin has been serving up his takes on classic diner dishes — including loaded mac and cheese, cheeseburgers and club sandwiches — at Truckin' Awesome since 2018. Last year, he helped found the food pantry, a nonprofit with no income limitations or rules, where people take what they need when they need it. The truck's operation supported the pantry.
Now, customers and community members are stepping up to help Martin raise enough money to replace his truck, donating to an online campaign and hosting their own impromptu fundraisers that have brought in more than $3,000 so far.
A livelihood that supports a local food pantry
Martin's food truck is a total loss, he said; it's unclear what caused the fire. A call on Friday to the Olivet Fire Department, which responded to the blaze, wasn't returned.
For the first few hours after the fire, Martin, who lives in Charlotte, said he was "completely devastated." He started the business after years of working for others in the food industry, he said, and it offered him the freedom he'd always wanted to make food his way.
When Martin's truck was destroyed Wednesday afternoon his primary concern was keeping the pantry open.
It's housed in a 1,200-square-foot building Martin rents next to where his truck is usually parked and offers area residents free access to canned goods, fresh vegetables and fruits, dried goods, fresh and frozen meats and pet food.
The pantry was registered as a nonprofit after community members offered to donate funds to help pay for items, Martin said. The pantry doesn't receive any government assistance.
"When you go to most food pantries, you can go once a month and they just hand you a box or whatever they want to give you," he said. "Here, people come in they take what they need, not what I think they need."
In the days since the fire, Martin has succeeded in both serving food and keeping the pantry open, using portable equipment to serve an abbreviated menu in the party store's parking lot.
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The community has stepped up to help
In Olivet, Truckin' Awesome is a well-known, popular spot to get lunch or dinner, Jodie Watson said.
She said Martin can cook, and his customers know to expect huge, flavorful portions when they visit the spot off North Main Street.
"The man has never, ever made anything that I wouldn't say wasn't fabulous," Watson said. "We want to see him back in business. We want to be able to eat from his food truck again."
She started an online fundraiser to help raise money for a new food truck within a day after the fire. The response — it's raised over $2,600 — was fast and furious, Watson said.
"I can't say I'm not in awe," she said. "It amazes me, but do Marty and Dawn (his wife) deserve it? Definitely."
She isn't the only customer who's stepped up to help raise money for Martin.
Crystal Shumaker's children offered lemonade in exchange for donations from a stand at their home in Charlotte for three days over the weekend. The kids, who are regular customers at Truckin' Awesome, raised $400 for Martin, she said.
"Marty, he's a great guy," Shumaker said. "He's an amazing chef. I love his food and what he does for the food pantry melts my heart and I know a lot of his profits went to filling the food pantry so we just wanted to do our part and bring the community together."
Martin has no idea what it will cost to buy a new food truck, but he plans to buy what he can afford.
"I am just amazed at the community response," he said. "It's like something so devastating can turn into a good thing. It's just amazing."
You can find the online fundraiser Watson started here or by searching www.GoFundMe.com for "Marty's Food Truck Explosion." Follow Truckin' Awesome on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TruckinAwesomeFood .
Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Fire destroyed a popular Olivet food truck. Customers are stepping up to help its owner
