A fire destroyed a four-unit apartment building in Palmerton last week.

Many members and organizations of the Palmerton community have stepped up to lend a hand during a time of need - including Bert’s Steakhouse, which offered to provide meals to the tenants.

“All we had to do was go in, give them our name and they said if we could tip, OK, if not, they were not concerned about it,” said Vicki Bush, who lived in the building with her family.

“Every time we went in, we tried to bless somebody else. We’ve been blessed so much with the outreach from our community with people we don’t even know.”

Bush said Bert’s fed each of the 11 tenants for a week.

“When we go into town, we have people coming up to us that we don’t know handing us a card or gift card,” Bush said. “We want people to know we appreciate so much everything they’re doing for us.”

Bush was extremely appreciative of Bert’s generosity.

“It’s hard for me to be on the receiving end,” Bush said. “I’m a very giving person and I like to give. I don’t like to receive. That’s a hard thing that my husband and I had to get into our thick skulls. That if this was anybody else, that we would be doing what people are doing for us.”