GoFundMe: Valle's Produce Climbing Toward $30,000

JOLIET, IL —A GoFundMe campaign launched Monday has already raised more than $17,000 of its $30,000 goal to help the owners of Valle's Produce on Joliet's West Jefferson Street rebuild their store. The business was damaged by Sunday's late-night arsonists, according to the fire chief.

By Monday afternoon, about 30 family and friends of the owners were gathered at 704 West Jefferson St. to begin the long cleanup and recovery process. All of the food inside the store, thousands of dollars worth, was being thrown into the garbage bin. George Trujillo, whose family owns the business, told Patch that his grocery store serves lots of people from the east side of Joliet as well as customers from Crest Hill.

"We can't feed our employees' families right now," he said, referring to the fact that the fire has put their grocery store out of business for the time being.

He said his family intends on reopening. On a positive note, Joliet's fire chief told Patch the building is structurally sound and can be salvaged.

"All the meat, we lost the whole cooler," Trujillo told Patch.

Heidi Valle, who co-owns Valle's Produce with her brother Aldo, were both at their business Monday as family and friends helped with the cleanup. She lives in Joliet and said the store has been open in Joliet for two years now.

"I wish they could steal than start the fire," she told Patch. "Fire was more damage."

She said the arson damaged their computers inside the store. She said the fire was set out front but the arsonists got inside. "The groceries all have to be thrown out," she said.

The owners of Valle Produce said they were extremely grateful to everyone in the community who showed generosity by donating to their GoFundMe campaign. The fire has left about 16 people temporarily unable to work, they said.

That's why they want to get the damage cleaned up and be back in business as fast as possible.

As of 1:30 p.m. a GoFundMe called "Valle's Produce" had already raised $6,300 of its $30,000 goal.

By Tuesday morning, the Valle Produce GoFundMe had raised $17,409 thanks to a whopping 509 donations.

"So sorry about this! It really upsets me. God bless! I'd be happy to volunteer to help with clean up," one woman who donated $50 wrote.

"You guys have THE best carnitas in the city. And a damn good chorizo. I hope you can get up and running soon!" one man who donated $20 wrote.

"A Joliet resident that hurts to see it destroyed," wrote a woman who gave $50.

If you want to contribute, the link for the GoFundMe called Valle's Produce is here.