EUCLID, Ohio – It’s a story of faith in tragedy.
Tuesday’s storms knocked out the power for at least 11,000 First Energy customers in Euclid.
No electricity meant people either needed to trash their perishable foods or find a creative way to cook them.
That’s where Damien Sharp and his wife, Tiffany, came in.
“We knew a lot of people probably had food that were thawing out or defrosted. I first offered to cook the food for them if they wanted to bring it by rather than throw it away,” Damien said.
That idea then grew into lending a much bigger helping hand.
Damien said he posted to social media about hosting a cookout and then local food pantries wanted to help as well as neighbors wanting to donate money to buy food.
“There's so much negativity out here: people fighting over elections, people fighting over just nothing, and we all need to get along. I have grandchildren and I want the best for them,” Damien added.
40 pounds of chicken and 200 hot dogs later, Damien said they were able to feed several hundred people over the course of two days.
“I am very supportive of whatever it is that he does because he has always, as long as I've known him, wanted to be helpful to people,” Tiffany said.
Although Damien and Tiffany were exhausted by the time Sunday rolled around, they were still whipping up flavor and serving it to anyone who came by for a plate.
Sunday's servings consisted of greens and cornbread.
Damien explained his purpose in life is to help those in need. He spends his time helping senior citizens and said he wanted to expand on how many people he could serve.
“It feels great. I have my wife with me. She's assisting me. She's helping me. I want to do so much and when you want to do a lot, you have to have someone that supports you. She supports me and stands right with me. She helps me with everything I do when it comes to giving back to the community. That's what I love to do,” Damien stated.
Damien is already working on the next community event. He plans on organizing it this month.
After that, Damien wants to have a 24-hour cookout at Sims Park on Labor Day.
“We're trying to put that together for the first responders, police officers, schoolteachers, things of that nature. I've had some long cookouts but not 24 hours,” Damien said.
Damien is hoping his story of kindness will pay it forward.
“I've been this doing my whole life and I'm going to continue to do it. Hopefully I can inspire somebody else to do the same thing,” he said.
Tiffany encourages everyone to take a break from social media and get to know their neighbors. Both she and Damien said meeting new people through the process of helping has been a true gift.
Monetary donations can be sent through Zelle to Damien’s phone number: 216-346-5119.
