More than 500 people have donated over $27,000 to help the owners of Rockys Restaurant & Cafe get back on their feet. Photo / Dean Purcell
People across the country have rallied together to help the owners of a beloved Auckland café get back on their feet after a burglary.
Rockys Restaurant & Café was burgled earlier in the week.
Owners Rocky Warnakulasuriya and wife Jeevani Thusitha, hard-working parents of two, including a newborn, were left in tears.
The heartbreaking act hit the small hospitality business even harder as the couple couldn't afford insurance.
Warnakulasuriya said thousands of dollars worth of items were taken, including a laptop and two iPads worth $2500, a haul of liquor worth $1500, and $500 worth of cash from the till and tip jar.
Since news of the burglary was shared, generous people have flooded a Givealittle page with thousands of dollars in donations.
The funding page by regular customers and sisters Renee Argyros and Holly Wiles, who set a goal of $20,000 to cover a year of insurance, to build a more secure entryway to prevent future burglaries and to replace stolen items.
The funds raised as of Wednesday evening have surged past the $20,000 goal.
More than 500 donors have pooled together over $28,000 for the couple in two days.
One generous person donated $1000.
The rush of support is beyond belief for Warnakulasuriya.
"I can't believe that much support I'm getting. People around us and not just from Auckland, from Queenstown, Oamaru, and some other New Zealand communities. Some people might not even know us and it's been unbelievable how much support we are getting," he said.
The amount of money raised means Rocky can do much-need repairs to the business.
"It's too hot for the customers and my air conditioner is broken. Fridge [is] broken. [I can now] repair them. It's the early stage of my business, I'd like to have an established business so I can support my family.
"I don't know how to say thank you to them. I can't thank [them] enough."
Donors have left heartfelt messages for the couple on the Givealittle page, including local customers and people as far as the bottom of the South Island.
"Life would be over without your doughnuts!" one person wrote.
Another person said, "I am a cafe owner, working extremely hard with no maternity leave to make my ends meet. I have a newborn as well. So heartbreaking to hear this."
Another donor wrote: "So devastating, let's hope this page gives you faith that there are good people in the world who care!"
A police spokeswoman said police received a report on Monday morning regarding a burglary at the site.
"Police have attended and conducted an initial forensic examination. Further inquiries to be made."
'His journey was just beginning as it is for so many of us.'