Geneva organizes support for fire-damaged Stockholm’s, Pärla

Geneva’s business community is coming together to support a restaurant and retailer that both had fires last month.

Pärla, 122 Hamilton St., had a fire July 22 and Stockholm’s Restaurant & Brewery, 306 W. State St., had a kitchen fire July 31.

Craft Urban, 211 James St., is hosting a fundraiser for both Stockholm’s and Pärla from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14 with raffle prizes.

The Geneva Chamber of Commerce, 8 S. Third St., is collecting raffle prize donations. Donors should mark which business their item is intended to support at which fundraiser, Craft Urban or Up North.

Up North Wine Tasting Room, 9 N. Second St., is hosting a fundraiser for Stockholm’s from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, the same day as the Concours d’Elegance classic car show in Geneva’s downtown.

“Tickets are $25, which entitles a person to a glass of wine or beer flight, with 100% of the $25 going to support Stockholm’s, an email from Up North co-owner Cathy Humphreys said.

Up North is donating the cost of the wine and Art History Brewing is donating the cost of the beer, according to the email. Raffle tickets will be $5 each and people can select which prizes they want to win. All of the raffle money will go to Stockholm’s, according to the email.

Donations of raffle prizes can be made by dropping them off at Up North or the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, according to the email.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to support Stockholm’s employees. The average payroll is $19,000 a week, according to the account at www.gofundme.com.

“With the restaurant closed and while waiting for payroll insurance to kick in, our staff faces uncertain times ahead in the next few weeks,” Team Stockholm’s said on the site. “This is why we’re reaching out to our community for support. ... Your generosity will provide crucial financial assistance to cover essential living expenses such as housing, groceries and medical bills until insurance coverage takes over.”

Donations reached $33,155 – past the $25,000 goal – as of Aug. 7.

Stockholm’s employee Rebecca Moore said the restaurant has 23 full-time employees.

“We are just blown away,” Moore said. “A few were skeptical, especially when times are tough and you’re putting your hand out and asking, ‘What can you spare?’ That is tough to do.”

Stockholm’s has three married couples who work there and their primary income is from the restaurant, Moore said.

“We figured we have this insurance to look forward to, but we don’t know when that is going to come through,” Moore said. “And we needed a little something to ease everybody’s mind a little bit to pay the rent and feed the family in the meantime.”