'I Prayed About It': Restaurant Owner Sells Her Car To Cover Employees During Coronavirus Pandemic

SMYRNA, Ga. (CBS Local) -- A restaurant owner who had to shut her doors and layoff most of her staff when the coronavirus pandemic hit Georgia has sold her car so she can pay her employees.

Vittles Restaurant is a fixture in Smyrna, serving good old southern food for more than three decades. Charity Salyers, who purchased the restaurant last year, she says things were just picking up until the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to temporarily close.

"A lot of our clients are elderly, they come every day, sometimes twice a day, and they depend on us," she told WAGA.

Her loyal customers urged Salyers to do curbside pick up. But even so, business fell off sharply.

"I've had to cut my staff back from 10 to 12 people per day to 2 people plus me," she said.

Salyers says while she didn't have the money to pay her employees, she couldn't let them go hungry.

"I was kind of stuck against a wall so I prayed about it and then went and sold my car," Salyers said. "It was a Mustang GT 5.0, a very nice candy apple red."

The money Salyers got from selling her 2016 Mustang will be enough to help pay the bills and pay her workers for a couple of months, she told Cobb Business Journal. Now Salyers says she's just hoping things get back to business as usual soon.

"I just pray that something happens soon and we can reopen society," she said.

In addition to keeping her restaurant afloat, Salyers is also raising funds to help healthcare workers, children and the elderly who live in the area. To donate, visit click here to visit her GoFundMe page.