UPDATE: Panhandler's reopened on Saturday morning.

It's not easy to run a restaurant and it's never easy to ask for help. The legendary eatery in Fort Collins finds itself reaching out to the public.

Panhandler's Pizza of Fort Collins recently closed due to failure to pay back taxes. Though in their statement they hoped it would only be for a few days, it appears that it may be a bit longer.

There is now a GoFundMe account set up to benefit Panhandler's, originated by its current owner Louann DeCoursey.

After the original Panhandler's closed after about 30 years at Campus West, Louann took on the Panhandler's name and opened the 'new' Panhandler's off of College.

From the GoFundMe page:

It may be cheesy but I am swallowing a lot of pride and asking for your dough to get Panhandler's over this blip in the long tradition of Pan's. And believe me I know there are a lot more important "causes" than Panhandler's but I think we all want Panhandler's to be a thriving part of not FoCo's past but FoCo's future!

Many of you saw this post on social media, in the news or on our front door over the last few days:

Hi Pan's Fans --
I am sorry to say there is no Panhandler's for a few days. We have some back taxes we need to pay to the Colorado Department of Revenue and were working on getting it all paid when we just ran out of time today. I am doing everything I can to get us reopened within a few days. I am embarrassed that I let it get this far as well as sad and disappointed in myself. And VERY SORRY I have let down all of our fabulous Pan's Fans!!! We have lots of great things to come for Panhandler's and I hope we can still bring it all to fruition!
I am so deeply sorry Pan's Fans!! Please know I am doing everything I can to rectify the situation so we can all enjoy Panhandler's incredible pizza again!!
I am sorry from the bottom of my heart for letting you all down when you all have had so much faith in me carrying on the Pan's tradition. We will hopefully reopen in the next few days so we can all have our famous pizza!

Thanks for your loyalty --
LouannYes, I messed up!! But we are working diligently to rectify the problem.  We are losing sales and am not sure then how we are going to bounce back as easily from missing a few days of sales. So, despite my stubborn streak to not ask for help and be the one who takes care of problems I NEED YOUR HELP!!! There I admitted it, I NEED YOUR HELP to continue Panhandler's.

The bottom line is that I want Panhandler's to continue and I think so do you. I want to make sure we can pay our staff and continue to bring you the pizza that "tastes like a memory." Starting up Panhandler's was expensive-more than I anticipated and so I am still paying off even starting up Panhandler's. So I need help to maintain Panhandler's.

So, here's my pitch ... if you regularly get a meal deal would you be willing to donate that amount?  or a slice? or a whole pie's amount?  How about the amount of the number of years you've been eating at Pan's? Really anything would help. Or if you have other suggestions or ideas for Panhandler's please let me know.

We want Panhandler's Pizza to be around for a lot of years! Please help me continue to bring Fort Collin's the best pizza around.  Thank in advance for anything you can do but mostly thank you for the support you all have given me through this adventure. 
And THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for even reading this!! 

The goal for the fund is $15,000.

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