GALLATIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — A family's restaurant has been presented with a hurdle. In fear of having to close, they've turned to the help of a community.
"Turnip greens and white beans, sounds like a meal to me!" Mo Martin smiled, taking an order. "We call that nap time."
Something to know about Mo, he can tell you how to get your order just right.
"With that pork chop, maybe lemon pepper?" he asked a customer.
"Yeah, yeah! That'd be good!" the customer answered.
The recipes at Mo's Gallatin restaurant come from generations of family.
"The world-famous Martin's Chicken and Waffles!" Mo said. "We're a small, family-owned, veteran-owned business. We look at it as more than a plate. We do try to put love into our food."
"Talk to me, where am I goin'?" he asked the kitchen, picking up a plate of buffalo chicken and fries. "Comin' out hot!"
The restaurant's been around six years, four of those years in Gallatin. Mo said keeping anything with a family connection alive has never felt more important.
"I lost my oldest son, my mom, my dad within, like, 120 days," he explained. "It feels good to see people enjoy the catfish cause that was my dad's thing."
The chicken and waffles joint is faced with an obstacle testing the fate of Mo's family business ; a street widening of Smith St. and culvert replacement on S. Water is underway.
"It's been a year and a half that we've been affected," Mo said. "Customers would call and say, 'Hey. How do we get to you? The street is blocked off on both ends. How do we actually get to you?' We've really come to the end of the road as far as our finances, we're not ready to end right now."
As it turns out, many in the community don't want that either. When word got out of what was happening at Mo's restaurant, crowds began pouring in.
"Just want to help out a neighbor in need!" said customer Bob Schults. "When the call went out, I said, 'Hey, I know where I want to eat on Sunday.' I see people here from Gallatin, I see people here from Hendersonville, people I don't know where they're from. I'm glad they answered the call. They're in for a good meal."
Vocal support has also come from Gallatin Mayor Paige Brown, while a GoFundMe page has raised nearly $9,000. That GoFundMe page can be found here.
"We're a very prideful people," Mo said. "We didn't want to ask for anything, but we wanted to hold onto this business."
There's a sense of reassurance for Mo that when he reached out for help, people did listen.
"We're here for you," Bob said, shaking Mo's hand.
"That's a blessing," Mo said. "It means a lot to us. It means a lot to our family."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
This is a beautiful story of chosen family, proving a father figure doesn't have to have biology in common to make a difference in a child's life. The story of De'Andre and Alex will remind you that our relationships help determine the course of our lives. And that being supportive of someone - through a meal, a shared experience or even swim lessons can make all the difference.
- Rebecca Schleicher
