The Fish House in Ruskin turns into a donation center after hurricanes

RUSKIN, Fla. – Hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded a Ruskin restaurant, but the owner found a new purpose to help others.

Julie Cockerham has owned the Fish House since 2008.

“We like to think of ourselves as old Florida style, very simple, just like me. We fry almost all of our food because we like it that way,” Cockerham said.

Cockerham said Hurricane Helene flooded the patio restaurant. Hurricane Milton caused additional damage to the outbuilding.

She temporarily closed the restaurant on West Shell Point Road. She turned the patio area into a distribution location.

Cockerham and volunteers collect donations and then help those affected by the hurricanes.

“We have helped thousands of people since the first storm, and in the immediate area many people had not even recovered from the first storm,” she said.

She updates the Fish House Facebook page with information about how the community can help or get help.

“We had a family with six children in a two-bedroom house and they had nothing to help these people with food, clothing, toiletries and personal care products. “It was just great to help even one person,” Cockerham said.

Brittny Bishop began volunteering after Hurricane Helene.

“I never left. I just kept coming back because it was very rewarding. It was nice to have hands here that can help people,” she said.

Cockerham said she hopes to make repairs and reopen the Fish House at some point in the future. A GoFundMe page has been created to help with repair costs.

She said she is focused on helping the community.

“I will definitely continue. It’s probably going to be a slow process and I’ve kind of put it on the back burner for now because we’ve been so fortunate to be able to help so many people.”

She is currently collecting donations, including non-perishable food and canned goods.

For more information, follow Fish House on Facebook.