Generous donations, community support help get three South Philly restaurants back on their wheels

Two months ago, a GoFundMe donor predicted “Don’t worry, the community will come together for you” after a series a vehicle thefts sent Marcos Tlacopilco, Alma Romero and Nacho Flores, three South Philadelphia restaurant owners, into a business tailspin.

And she was right.

After people read of their plight, there was an outpouring of support for the trio from 327 donors. The top donor gave $600 but there were plenty of smaller donations that to date have totaled $20,925, or 47% of the original $45,000 goal. The crowdfunding site is still open and money continues to trickle in but it has helped to put Marcos Tlacopilco, Alma Romero and Nacho Flores back in their driver seats. One vehicle was a refrigerated truck and the other was a personal vehicle used for business.

» READ MORE: Three beloved South Philly restaurants are at risk after theft of two vans critical to their operations

“I am really happy. People gave from $5 to $600 and that got this campaign up to where it is,” said Jill Fink, one of the earliest contributors. She is also the executive director of the Merchants Fund, a nonprofit grant-making organization that has also provided emergency funding to Tlacopilco.

Tlacopilco and Romero took their half, which helped purchase a used refrigerated truck, replacing their 17-year-old work horse stolen in February. Now, Tlacopilco can more easily make his thrice weekly trips to New York or Maryland to service the needs of Marco’s Fish Market & Crab House and Alma Del Mar, the seafood restaurant named for his wife and featured on the fifth season of Netflix’s Queer Eye.

“Some people came to the restaurant and put a donation in my hand.”

“I saw your makeover show and love Mexican food but even more your family and [I] was planning to visit the next time I was in Philly!” one donor wrote.

And Nacho Flores, who opened Los Taquitos de Puebla in 2020, is close to purchasing a secondhand van to haul his restaurant supplies. His stolen van was eventually recovered but had been completely totaled.

“Some people came to the restaurant and put a donation in my hand,” said Flores, through translator Angel Ballesteros, a commercial corridor manager whose South Philadelphia territory includes the restaurants’ Italian Market community.

The trio’s woes started last winter. “My van was stolen in February and a few days ago, Mrs. Alma’s work van was stolen, so we cannot buy another van to do the shopping for our businesses,” Flores said in August.

“The stealing of a vehicle shouldn’t be a crisis, but it is because small businesses don’t have savings,” said Kersy Azocar, president and CEO of Greenline Access Capital, whose loan clients are all Latino and immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

“The stealing of a vehicle shouldn’t be a crisis, but it is because small businesses don’t have savings.”

The moral of this business story is the importance of developing a good network before a crisis hits.

“Just when you find yourself in a tough spot, you will know who to call and ask for information,” said Nicole Marcote, program manager for the Department of Commerce’ Office of Neighborhood Economic Development.

Denis Murphy, deputy commerce director of the Office of Corridor Improvements and Business Services, said that a good first call would be to his office, where multilingual business service support personnel will come out, get to understand a business’s needs, and help connect owners to resources.

It is also necessary to avoid being scammed especially in times of crisis. “There is so much misinformation and lack of information regarding organizations that can help small businesses,” Azocar warned.

Marcote echoed Azocar, but added that small business owners should not feel alone.

“Be as prepared as you can, but a lot of people are willing to catch you,” she said.