Ocean Beach Pier cafe’s history auctioned to aid homeless outreach
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — After a long and memorable life on the Ocean Beach pier, everything must go.
Not to the landfill or some garbage dump, but from this storage container to the highest bidder.
"You know how many people have been on this pier, ate at that cafe, played the games, fished with their fishing poles. We've acquired everything that you've seen, and that's what's going up for auction, because there's a lot of memories here. It's not a joke, it's real, and guess what, we get to be part of it," Fiore Garippo, Latter Reign Ministries.
Now that the Pier is closed for good, the owner of the "Walking on Water Cafe" decided to share the history instead of turning a quick profit, donating to charity almost every piece of furniture and artwork collected over 50-years inside the cafe.
"I donated most of the items that have any sort of nostalgic value. I wanted to keep it local, I could've sold it all on eBay. But I ended up deciding to donate it to a local nonprofit here in Ocean Beach, they work with the homeless," said Chuck Fisher, former owner, "Walking on Water Cafe."
From tables and chairs that served generations of families to the classic signs and mementos, little pieces of history are suddenly up for grabs.
The higher the bid the more it can help.
Most of the money from the auction will be donated to a homeless outreach team called Latter Reign Ministries.
"We're just funneling this in to the homeless. The funds from this is going to go to help those in need," said Garippo.
Before the formal auction gets underway, the Ocean Beach Antique Mall will serve as the temporary showroom, a display case for some of the items up for sale, including the menu from the "Walking on Water Cafe."
Decades of memories that will live on.
"I see that we need to come together as people and that's why we're doing the auction here. There's a lot of memories with it. The Ocean Beach Pier, I believe, really built Ocean Beach. And I just feel this is a time of drawing people closer together," said Garippo.
