NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — In March, Bashar Srouji opened the doors of Ghada Have It!. The hotspot for Mediterranean dishes in Niagara Falls features recipes passed down from the restaurant’s namesake, his mother, Ghada. He never imagined that just four months later, he would have to shut down the establishment he worked so hard to create.

As a result of the recent torrential rainfall, Ghada Have It! was flooded on July 20, forcing the restaurant to close. Even worse, Srouji's insurance doesn’t cover the damage, leaving him to foot over $30,000 in repairs and loss of wages.

What You Need To Know

  • Due to torrential July rainfalls, Ghada Have It! Mediterranean Home Cooking was flooded on July 20

  • Damages caused by the flood, including lost wages, amount to over $30,000

  • Jeannine Keen, sister of Ghada Have It! owner Bashar Srouji, set up a GoFundMe page, which has raised over half of its $20,000 goal

  • Srouji hopes to reopen the restaurant in two to four weeks

“My insurance told me 'no way,'" Srouji said. "The landlord’s insurance is who we’re trying to go through now, hopefully, they have their adjuster come out on Monday. It’s a bit of a mess right now, to be honest with you.”

Last Wednesday, Srouji's sister Jeannine Keen set up a GoFundMe page to help save Ghada Have It!, and in just five days, they raised over half of the $20,000 goal. The largest donation of $1,000 came from an anonymous Good Samaritan. The support has been overwhelming for Srouji and his crew.

“I’m just so humbled," he said. "I’m just so thankful. I thank everyone who’s donated and I tell my fiancée all the time, we’re getting a list of all these people. I don’t care what we need to do, but this debt needs to be paid back to everyone.”

“It’s tough to be in a position to ask for help, but he helps everyone," said Julie Landel, Bashar's fiancé. "Like he said, we’ll make sure the community is thanked in the right way.”

Bashar hopes to reopen Ghada Have It! in two to four weeks, preceding another venture rooted in family, the fifth-annual Tedfest, a celebration honoring his brother who passed away in 2016.

“In the midst of everything, we’re trying to be as righteous as possible," Srouji said. "I’d like to shine a little bit of light on that because it’s a beautiful thing for a beautiful person who passed away way too soon.”

When the time does come for Srouji to get back to business, he’ll be more than ready, with his lineage as his inspiration.

“This is not going to shut us down; this is the pride of my family" he said. "We’re first-generation here from Nazareth. This is 65-year-old recipes that we do here and it comes from the heart. This is so much bigger than me and it has to be here.”