LOS ANGELES –  There are certain staples you’ll always find at Palermo Italian Restaurant. Large trays of lasagna, freshly made pizza, and first responders. 

Tony Fanara has been in the restaurant business for 44 years. Many of his regulars are in uniform.  

“I try to support them as much as I can, LAPD and fire department both," he said.

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And now, they say, it’s their turn.

Joe Oliveri is a long-retired sergeant with the LAPD who’s been coming to Palermo’s for a long time.

How long? "You don’t want to know," he joked.

When he heard Fanara had been forced to lay off a majority of his staff, Oliveri wanted to do something, raise a few bucks, he says, to help Fanara and the employees. He started a GoFundMe campaign with a modest goal of $5,000.

“I was scared that I’d get nothing," Oliveri said. "I’m not into cyber space and all that kind of stuff.”

Within 24 hours, the campaign had raised over $20 thousand -- and then doubled -- and kept going. Famara is stunned.

“I’m very surprised," he admitted.

But Oliveri says it’s not all that surprising given what the restauranteur has done for the departments, donating food during during countless emergencies over the years. 

Oliveri remembers one in particular. Fanara was driving home one night at 2 a.m. and stopped when he saw large number of emergency vehicles.  A police officer responding to an accident had been struck by a car and killed.

“Tony asked them, ‘Should I go back to the restaurant and open it and make you guys some food?’ That’s the kind of guy he is," Oliveri explained, choking back tears. "So we’re stepping forward for him and his employees. That’s all we can do. Nothing else we can do.”

Fanara says giving just makes him feel good. Even now, as homeless people come to his door, he gives them food and drinks without hesitation.

“Hopefully one day if I’m that way one day, somebody be nice enough to me. Give me some food too. That’s the way I look at it," Fanara explained.

Whatever the final amount is, he says he plans to split the money with his employees – many of whom he hopes to hire back when all of this is over. It’s been a tough time for his business but Fanara has no doubt they’ll survive it thanks in part to the support of his friends in uniform.

“And I guess they are really friends," he said, "and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

A lifetime of generosity now met with the full force of gratitude.