Deer Park Jug & Muffin Fire

In October 2007, my brother, Robert Barrera, was in a fatal accident at 22.  As you can imagine it was devastating to our entire family. Our family dynamic was never quite the same. We are proud that even after his passing he was able to help 7 strangers have a 2nd chance at life through organ donation. Our family would have given up anything to see him through his accident, but when nothing could be done we decided we wanted to do something to remember him by. If there was one thing Robert loved more than anything it was our mom's cooking. My parents used the remainder of his life insurance money to purchase the historic Deer Park landmark known as the Jug & Muffin.  The building has been a Deer Park landmark since it opened as a general store in 1957, later a meat market, and eventually the very infamous Jug & Muffin. Our family loved running Robert's Jug & Muffin while we were there, but had to close due to personal reasons. The restaurant stayed vacant for years. It broke our hearts to visit our once lively restaurant. We were approached many times to sell the property, but it was about so much more than money. Finally, after years of being vacant we decided to lease the building and hoped our new tenants would take care of the building and bring it back to life. After receiving about 20 calls within the first two days, I spoke with a young man calling for his father in law and I told my mom, "That is who I want us to lease to." He did not say anything in particular and just asked general questions. After meeting the Vega family we were confident in allowing them into a very sacred part of our lives. The family did not waste any time. We were overjoyed to watch them bring our little restaurant back to life. They utilized the restaurant like it was their own. Upon opening, Vegas Mexican Restaurant quickly became a popular establishment and was only getting started. It was a family affair and they had made plans to stay at our location for years to come. Mr. Vega told us that there was something about our building he loved and always dreamt about operating his restaurant from there.  Unfortunately, on Saturday, May 7, 2016 all of our families received the call the restaurant was on fire. By the time we arrived firefighters said the fire had been brewing within the building long before it showed external signs of smoke and fire. The building was a complete loss. We stayed all night watching the firefighters do everything they could to put the fire out, but nothing could be done.  The loss of this historic landmark has significantly affected 3 households, whose sole income was from Vegas Restaurant.  Mr. Vega exhausted his life savings to pursue his dream. Both parties involved were in the process of purchasing commercial insurance.  In fact, Mr. Vega was set to finalize his paperwork the Monday after the fire. Unfortunately, at the end of the day none of this matters. Our ultimate goal, God willing, is to rebuild, but our short term goal is to remove the debris. We will also set up a Facebook page detailing our efforts so that you can join us on this journey as we make progress.  I humbly ask you to please donate and/or share our story to help us raise funds to accomplish this goal. I know it may seem impossible to raise such a large amount of money, but we will never know if we do not try.