LOGAN – While investigators are looking for the cause of a fire that destroyed a dining lodge at Hocking Hills State Park and state officials work on their plans to rebuild, the people who worked at the Hocking Hills Dining Lodge in southeastern Ohio are unemployed at Christmas.
But they’re getting some help.
Members of the Friends of The Hocking Hills State Park organization is helping to raise funds for the two dozen workers and their families.
The non-profit group is asking anyone wishing to donate to send a check or money order to:
Friends of Hocking Hills State Park
P.O. Box 101
Logan OH 43138Donations can also be made to a GoFundMe account.
The organization says 100 percent of the money collected will be distributed to the employees and their families
Kroger of Logan has donated a $50 gift card to each employee to be used towards a holiday dinner
Between them, officials with the group say the employees have 10 children, including seven girls ranging from age from seven to 16, two boys between 10 and 16, and one newborn baby.
No one was hurt in the fire that began early last Thursday morning before the restaurant had opened. Authorities say a construction crew working on the lodge roof first noticed smoke.
The dining lodge sits at the western end of the state park that draws more than 1 million people each year.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says it plans to rebuild the dining lodge, which opened in 1972.