Several local business people and residents volunteered to give a much-needed facelift to United Deli, located at 212 Tuscaloosa Road, Thursday through Sunday.
To do this, local Realtors Colin Krieger, Robert Rhett, and several volunteers convinced the owner, Adelnagi “John” Musa, to close the deli and take a few days off to spend time with his family until Monday, when the deli reopened.
“John has been so good to the community,” Rhett said. “He never meets a stranger, and when you come to the store, he always makes you feel welcome. We just had no problem helping him.”
Musa told The Dispatch he was very glad to receive the help and took the opportunity to travel with his family to Atlanta.
“It’s just wonderful,” Musa said. “So many of them came to work on it, and we are so blessed.”
Before the work ever started, Krieger had set up a GoFundMe page for Musa in late February to help repair $5,000 worth of damage from vandalism following an incident in February at Metro PCS at 114 Alabama St. Musa owns the building where that business is housed.
During the incident, Musa was charged with simple assault for holding a man he believed was stealing copper from the building’s HVAC units at gunpoint until officers arrived. After the police came, Musa was arrested and released from jail the same day.
Musa’s court date was originally scheduled for Thursday at the Columbus Municipal Court, but that was continued to next month.
In the wake of his arrest, public support for Musa led to the GoFundMe raising more than $28,000 in just a few days.
“He (Musa) was maintaining that other property (Metro PCS),” Krieger said. “That led to neglect of some of the machinery and equipment at United Deli. So Robert Rhett stepped up and offered to help coordinate all the tradesmen and contractors that offered to help.”
The work done to the deli Thursday through Sunday included replacement of cabinets and countertops, moving the drink machine to the west wall, plumbing work, repairing part of the east wall by the entrance, painting and replacement of ceiling tiles.
Local companies involved with the project were Klutts Plumbing, Tom’s Paint and Decorating, Pro Cleaners and Benton’s Maintenance Mechanical. Others involved were Chad Frasher and Dusty Snider, who brought four volunteers from Crossroads Sober Living Home and Body Builders Ministries to paint cabinets. Frasher said he was happy to help with the project.
“We did it just because of just how good of a guy (Musa) is and he just needed the help,” Frasher said. “We were happy to do it.”
Pro Cleaners’ owner, Chris Paccasassi, said his team was the last one in the building to deep clean the restaurant and kitchen area.
“I saw what took place with him and just read about it and then (Krieger and Rhett) getting ready to renovate,” he said. “So, I said, ‘I’d like to come in and help anyway I can.’”
Snider said the renovation helped participants at Crossroads Sober Living complete their monthly volunteer project.
“They were looking for some painters to help paint cabinets,” Snider said. “At Crossroads, we always do community service every month. So, we jumped at the opportunity to help Mr. John because Mr. John also helps us out.”
But this won’t be the end of work needed at the deli. Krieger said there will be other phases to help Musa with the restaurant, which could include adding a new freezer and oven to the kitchen, improvements to the security system and work on the building’s exterior.
“The restaurant never ends,” Musa said. “So, we’re going to deal with the next (phase), and we have to correct a lot of stuff.”
All contractors involved with the project are donating labor and providing material at cost, Krieger said. The Metro PCS and United Deli projects combined will cost between $5,000 and $10,000 out of pocket, he said, which will be paid from the GoFundMe donations.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 39 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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