CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico nearly four years ago, Jovanni Domenech owned a food truck on the island.
“It was a nightmare because not only was he there, but my mom was there. All my family was there,” said Yesenia Gonzalez, his wife.
Gonzalez said his food truck faired OK in the storm.
“It didn’t destroy the food truck but the place where he had the food truck closed,” explained Gonzalez. “It was a college and that was the cafeteria, and the food truck was the cafeteria of the college. They closed the college, and he couldn’t work anymore.”
That’s when Gonzalez said he moved to the United States. However, she said, he lost his job due to the pandemic.
“We started working from home, doing all this stuff, and we noticed the need of the people to find all these goodies from Puerto Rico, and that’s when we decided to open a place where they could come and find it,” said Gonzalez.
During the coronavirus pandemic, they decided to open the Delicias de Borinquen bakery in Clay County.
“The first week that we opened all the stuff we bought to last a week, lasted only a weekend,” explained Gonzalez. “We’ve been amazed. We’ve been blessed.”
Gonzalez hopes their journey will inspire others.
“I want to pass this message to people who have a dream to follow their dreams,” said Gonzalez. “If you follow your dreams and you do whatever is in your heart, that dream may come true and you’re not going to regret it.”