Millennial Brewing hosts fundraiser to help business hit hard by water woes

From red tide to blue-green algae, the water crisis is hitting small businesses hard.

For some, customers are few and far between, but an event Friday night aimed to lend a helping hand.

Millennial Brewing Company held a fundraiser, and local restaurants that are in need of customers set up shop right on the street.

We saw hundreds of people out supporting the local businesses who say they are taking a devastating hit from both the red tide and the green algae.

Christine Miller, Owner of Snook Hut Bait & Tackle says customers at the Hut are few and far between, “We have compared numbers we went back from last year and up to August sales were down about $30,000.”

And her fully stocked shelves and fish tanks are a constant reminder of the precious money she’s losing every day, “As far as loans and things like that, it’s not feasible. I mean why take something out to dig us even deeper in a hole. We don’t want to be in the hole at all”

And she could be in the hole even longer.

Right now, officials say the blue-green algae blooms now cover 50 percent of Lake Okeechobee.

And it’s crushing business owners like Joshua Allen of Marsh Works of Florida. He says, “All business are slow, tackle shops are hurting. Local companies like myself we’re not doing any business at all”

The proceeds will be donated to Captains for Clean Water.

Mellinium brewing says preliminary estimates put beers sold at around 6,000.