The owners of a “barcade” in Griffith that’s fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic are seeking the community’s help in being able to offer their employees more than they’re able to give them as they wind down operations.

Owner Patricia Sidener recently announced on social media that Twincade, a bar and restaurant featuring pinball machines and many of the old-school video games, wouldn’t be able to survive through the pandemic any longer, patrons and other fans have contributed slightly more than $2,300 to the effort, according to its donation page on Facebook. She’s extremely grateful to everyone, because it’s gotten past the point where she can do much more to help.

It isn’t for lack of trying, she said. The pandemic’s trajectory and the state’s ever-changing executive orders have made running the business untenable, at least for the time being.

“I want to say it was May 11, when we got the green light and were able to open up and then we were quite apprehensive to reopen because of the nature of our business; it’s all celebratory, and there are video games where you know people touch everything all the time,” she said.

“At that point, there was no hand sanitizer available for public, no alcohol available for the public, so we held off as long as feasibly possible because I wanted us to be part of the solution, not the problem.”

While they were closed, Sidener put the employees to work upgrading the bar so they at least had some way to earn some cash. One woman who used to be in construction helped redo the pizza oven, another who’s artistic repainted everything, she said. By July 7 and nearly $500 spent on four gallons of hand sanitizer, they were ready to open.

It wasn’t enough.

“I don’t want to see the community fail because of my actions. But our whole marketing idea is parties. It’s events,” she said “On Friday night, Saturday night, we’re packed with birthday parties nonstop, and then all of a sudden, we don’t have these events going on. ”

Because Twincade allows the under-21 set in until 9 p.m. there were a handful of families and a handful of regulars who still stopped in, Sidener said.

The core clientele, however, skew more liberal and therefore are more reserved about going out.

“I mean we were S.O.L from the beginning, man,” she said.

There was a little bit of stimulus money — $30,000 – that covered payroll for nine weeks the last go-around, she said. Eventually, she started dipping into her own money to keep it all going, she said.

But with latest stimulus package still in limbo, they just ran out of time.

“The big problem is the long run,” Sidener said. “We will not survive the year it will take the public to receive the vaccine and perhaps eradicate the virus. We will not even survive the time to get approved for the PPP.”

Sidener is also painfully aware of the timing and would’ve done anything to limp along past the holidays, she said.

She remains grateful that the “happily dysfunctional family” she and her staff have become has at least dulled the blow a tiny bit, which is why raising money to “give them a little more than $50 on their way out” is so important to her.

“Everybody knows that I would never do anything to hurt them; it’s pretty intense how close we all are,” she said. “I thought, ‘OK, what can I do, what can I do?’ And then I thought Oh! That! Of course, I should (start a fund raiser on Facebook),” she said.

Rachel Conn, of Hobart, has worked at Twincade since June 2018, when she started as the kitchen manager but moved into bartending. She feared the worst would happen and now that it has, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do when all the other bars and restaurants are struggling, too.

“I was absolutely devastated. This isn’t just a job for any of us — the Sideners became family to me. I love them, I love their kids,” she said of Sidener and her husband, Phil. “I was so incredibly sad for Patricia because she put her soul into this place. She wanted to have a place where everyone could feel welcome and included. It’s heartbreaking that this amazing safe space won’t be here, especially because we need it more than ever right now.”

One of Conn’s regulars, Christian Corona, of Dyer, said he likes to sing karaoke after he gets off work on Fridays and used to travel to Orland Park, Illinois, or even Chicago to unwind.

Once he found Twincade, he was hooked by their friendliness.

“I found out through (social media), and I was kind of upset. Twincade was a good spot,” he said.

Anyone interested in donating should search for “Twincade Employees Need Your Help!” on Facebook. The fundraiser ends Jan. 3.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.