NEW LONDON, Wis. (WFRV) – Mother Nature hasn’t been kind lately to one New London family.
Thursday’s ice storm sent tree branches flying in the Larsen’s New London yard. One branch crashed down onto their garage, tearing part of the gutter away from the garage and damaging shingles. The Larsens said they’re still figuring out if their insurance will cover it, and if not, how they can get the damage repaired.
“Anytime we think that things are going in the right direction, going upward, something like this happens,” Matt Larsen told Local 5 News.
Just over two weeks ago, when the historic winter storm blasted Northeast Wisconsin with feet of snow, the Larsens experienced even more significant property damage.
The Larsen’s own FML Discount Grocery in New London. The inventory for the store sits in storage units in their yard. The intense, drifting snow from the storm was too much for the storage unit, and it partially collapsed.
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“I guess they always say it comes in threes, the shed was one, today with the ice storm was number two, and we’re hoping number three ain’t too bad,” Matt Larsen said.
Larsen said the collapsed storage unit actually didn’t damage their inventory. However, accessing some of it in the damaged unit is an issue, and it would be hard for them to bring additional inventory inside. They said they need to get a brand new storage unit, which will likely cost them thousands of dollars.
The Larsens say that at FML Discount Grocery, they sell food at very cheap prices ($2 dollars and less) to fill a need in the community. They also work with local food pantries and help to supply other grocery stores in the area.
“We do everything at $2 and less, and it really helps out a lot of people in our community who are in need,” Larsen said.
Recently, the Larsens helped to organize a food giveaway to make sure that food from a food pantry that is closing wouldn’t go to waste. It helped feed hundreds of people in the community for free.
Community members have stepped up to help the Larsens in their time of need. They set up a GoFundMe that can be found here.
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The Larsens said that initially, it was overwhelming to see the damage to the storage unit and that they didn’t know if keeping their grocery store open was feasible. However, they said after seeing the community support and hearing from people about how important the discounted food is to their lives, they said they’re committed to keeping the grocery stores open.
“I don’t know, I guess we just have this mentality that we never give up,” Matt said about handling adversity.
