- The Naked Dog food truck, a Savannah favorite, suffered a catastrophic engine failure, halting their business operations and sole source of income.
- Owners Patsy and Jim Hood, who transitioned from a market stall to a food truck during the pandemic, are struggling to cover the $12,000 engine replacement cost.
- A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support the Hoods, garnering community support and offers of assistance to help them get back on their feet.
Years ago, there was a vendor who served Chicago-style dogs on River Street, Patsy Hood said. Her husband, Jim, loved the little stand so when the owner closed their shop, they wanted to take over that spot selling hot dogs — thus, the Naked Dog was born.
“So it started there, and we just had a little cart and then it took off really quick,” Hood said. “Next thing you know we have a bigger cart, and we couldn’t keep up with that. It just grew from there and we were there for 12 years.”
Though they stayed at the market for two more years, they, like other restaurants during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic pivoted into a food truck model. They went from a trailer to an older truck and then built their way up to the truck they have now. Then, last week, tragedy struck. The engine blew in the food truck that has been serving the community for the last five years.
Hood, though she was apprehensive about it, started a GoFundMe seeking any help they can get to cover the cost of the $12,000 job to replace the engine. She’s hoping they can get what they need in the next week or so.
“We have no income, we don’t have another job,” Hood said. “That is our only source of income. So, I’m ready to look in the rearview mirror and see this behind us.”
Owning a food truck is very rewarding, Hood said, and she wants nothing more than to get back to serving people in The Landings, Butter Bean Beach and more.
“You go to all these locations, and you start to form a relationship with them and its a really good feeling,” Hood said. “We’ve also won all these community awards, so it feels like we’ve been doing something right.”
They have a hard time asking people for help, Hood said, but wanted to try to reach out to see if they could get some assistance. So far, the GoFundMe has raised over $2,000 and others have offered to help them privately. Those who are working on their truck have asked the Hoods to feed their employees to help generate some money to pay towards the bill.
“I thought it was awesome for them to do that,” Hood said. “Whatever we don’t get we’ll figure it out. It’s just very stressful right now, but it’s all coming together.”
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for the Savannah Morning News, covering the municipalities, and community and cultural programs. You can reach her at [email protected]
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