Community Rallies In Support of Shellback Manager
Oct 12, 2020 09:49AM ● By Jeanne Fratello
As a beloved Shellback Tavern manager prepares to adopt five children of a family member who died from COVID-19 - in addition to his own four children - the Manhattan Beach community is rallying in support.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe page for Rico De Alba, who has worked at Shellback for almost three decades. De Alba is well-known in the community as a friendly face at one of the town's favorite beachside watering holes.
"When you go downtown, he’s a friend to everyone,"
said Grant Chalmers, a Manhattan Beach resident who created the GoFundMe
along with his girlfriend Nicole Rosen. "Everyone knows the name Rico."
In just one weekend, the fundraiser has already surpassed $37,000.
A Sudden Family of 11
De Alba's brother-in-law, Marlon Blandon, died from
COVID-19 in July, leaving behind five young children. De Alba and his wife,
already parents to four children, stepped in without hesitation. The family is currently in the process of formally adopting
the five children.
Chalmers had become friendly with De Alba from his frequent trips to
Shellback. When he learned about De Alba's situation, he told DigMB, he
knew he had to do something.
Chalmers and Rosen created the GoFundMe page,
which was almost instantly inundated with donations on behalf of De Alba.
In the first 24 hours, it had just about reached half of its $50,000
goal. It is now well on its way to reach or even exceed that
goal.
Chalmers said that De Alba was the kind of guy who would never
ask for this kind of attention or fundraising, but the instant love from
the community "speaks to Rico's character."
Chalmers
added that he had surveyed the list of donors and - even as a lifelong
resident- didn't even know many of the names, which spoke to just how
many people De Alba and his story had touched.
"It’s
honestly just amazing to see the support," Chalmers told DigMB. "This
is an amazing community. I would have never in my wildest dreams
believed that we would be able to do something like this."
A Legend at Shellback
In fact, De Alba is well-known to anyone who has frequented Shellback Tavern. (He was named Best Bartender in the Easy Reader's Best of the Beach 2010.)
"Rico has been working for me since his early teenage years. He started
helping his brother out in the kitchen when I owned Grunions back in the
1990's," said Bob Beverly, owner of Shellback. "He worked his way up from dishwasher to busboy to chef and
manager of Shellback Tavern for the last 20 plus years."
De Alba's name comes up frequently in reviews of Shellback Tavern, and "Rico's Icelandic Cod Tenders" are a perennial favorite on the Shellback menu (not to mention Rico's famous Fanta shot.)
Beverly noted that De Alba
and his wife had already opened their home to a child in need: One of
his four current children is a nephew who was in need of family. Now he and his wife will have an even larger addition.
"When I asked him how he was going to
do it, he said, 'I don't know, but I know I have to do it,'" said Beverly. "He has been blessed with good
friends helping out with schooling and donations. The De Albas are
certainly deserving of any and all support that can be given."
