You'd be hard-pressed to find a harder working woman than Sarah Kim.
For the past three years, Kim has run Shoreline's Teriyaki Plus restaurant completely on her own, but not because she wants to.
"It's very hard," she said. "It feels like the sky is falling down."
Sarah's husband and partner in the restaurant died from liver cancer three years ago.
Prior to that, they lost a baby to a miscarriage.
Since then, things have only gotten harder.
Sarah has been working 16 hour days to keep the restaurant open. She has no family here, no one to help and feels all alone.
"I feel like I might die working so hard," she said.
To get through it all, Sarah actually wore her husband's shoes everyday for three years just to feel close to him.
"I miss him a lot," she said, wiping her eyes. "I've been depressed."
Sarah has been unable to maintain the business on her own.
Customers left. She couldn't afford to pay employees and she came close to shutting down.
Sarah was alone once again.
Then, three days ago, Sally Larson happened in for dinner.
"She was working all by herself, and working so hard," said Sally.
Sally learned Sarah's story and posted it to Facebook, vowing to "plug her business."
What happened next, no one expected.
People started coming in droves. Scores of people showed up to eat, happily waiting up to an hour for food.
And they're still coming.
A steady stream of customers waited patiently for lunch on Thursday.
Sally Larson was beaming.
"It's amazing to see the legacy of her husband is still here," she said. "This is what she has left of him."
In a way, though, it has been too much of a good thing.
Sarah has been overwhelmed with business. But once again, her community is coming to the rescue. Volunteers are now taking orders, helping in the kitchen, and picking up supplies.
"Seeing her in action, you can't help but want to help her out," said Lien Titus, who helped spread the word by posting Sarah's story on her Facebook community page, Secret Shoreline.
Sarah is hoping to hire one full-time and one part-time employee. But right now, she's working so hard that she doesn't have the time.
To give her a bit of a cushion a Go Fund Me account has been created.
"God is working," Sarah said, in between dishing out plates of chicken and rice. "It's an answer to prayer!"
Surrounded by new friends and customers, Sarah Kim is no longer alone.
"I will keep going," she said. "I can do it."
