‘The food truck community is a real community.’ What it’s doing for one of its own in Fresno

Food truck vendors and hungry diners came out Thursday evening to support Planet Vegan owner Joe Ellis who was injured in an explosion in northeast Fresno on June 24.

The trailer caught fire and injured Ellis and a 14-year-old boy.

The Planet Vegan trailer towed by a pickup was parked at its regular spot at the Chevron gas station at the northeast corner of Shaw Avenue and First Street.

Fresno Street Eats, which organizes food truck events around the Valley, hosted the fundraiser for Planet Vegan at five locations in the Fresno area: Tioga-Sequoia, The Well, Gazebo Gardens, Crow & Wolf Brewing Co., Kingsburg Farmers Market and Table Mountain Casino.

Gazebo Gardens routinely has food truck nights. Owner Scott Miller said, “The food truck community is a real community.

“When somebody’s down, we will generally try to help them.”

“We’re here because we heard about the awful thing that happened at the Planet Vegan truck “ Mallory Ketchesid said. “We wanted to give back to the community, as well as hang out and enjoy some good food, and it goes to a good cause.”

Angelica Waters said she first tried the Planet Vegan food truck at the Gazebo Gardens and it became “one of my favorites.”

“Heard about the unfortunate accident they had,” she said. “We want to be here for any fundraisers to help benefit them, to help in their recovery and also getting their truck back.”

As of Thursday night, $56,521 of the $600,000 goal was raised through GoFundMe.

To donate, go to their page at GoFundMe.