File:A Better Choice Bakery 2019, Beth Johnson, February 22, 2019 from WDM Interview.jpg

Summary

Businesses affected by building fire aims to rebuild by Jasmine Pelaez for WDVM TV, February 22 2019

BRUNSWICK, Md. - On February 9, officials say 'careless smoking' caused a fire that spread through two buildings on West Potomac Street in Brunswick.

Beth Johnson’s storefront, that houses A Better Choice Bakery and Stroker's Barbecue, sits on the first level of one of those buildings.

"This should not have happened. This should never have happened," said owner of A Better Choice Bakery, Beth Johnson.

The property suffered from water damage from the fire rescue, and other ruble throughout.

It's now waiting for these repairs from their landlord, which forced Johnson and her husband, Scott Berthoff, who manages the barbecue, to question whether to put the bakery on hold to just focus on re-building the barbecue venture.

"Where will we go? Do we still have to do the baking side? The baking side, that's my baby, that's been my whole life for a long time. It was just trying to decide where to go from here," Johnson explained.

Johnson had to sell equipment from the bakery, like ovens, to help pay off expenses.

But community members have rallied through emergency relief and go-fund-me pages to help with the financial burden.

Anytime Fitness, the gym you can often find Berthoff in, is hosting a boot camp fundraiser on Saturday.

"As soon as they had told us about [the fire], we kind of started devising a plan automatically. I wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to support the community, and support people we care about," explained club manager for the Brunswick Anytime Fitness location, Sarah Mott.

Mott says 100 percent of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go to Johnson and Berthoff.

Johnson aims to use some of that money to create a fund for future Brunswick businesses.

For now, Johnson and Berthoff are focused on opening up a food trailer to continue selling their barbecue.

"Just don't give up. I'm the poster child for 'don't give up,' Johnson cheered.

Johnson hopes to have the food trailer up and running by March.