A Moncton charity that helps others pay their bills is now in financial need itself.

Big Hearts Small City organized a concert for Saturday, but only 20 people showed up, and now the organization is in the red.

“We have zero dollars to our name right now,” says founder Jason Surette.

To help replenish a dwindling bank account, Surette rented a hall and booked three bands to play a concert over the Victoria Day weekend.

However, only 22 tickets were sold.

“We only had $1,000 to our name before the event and, losing $2,100, it took away what little money we had and we’re in the hole now by over $1,000,” says Surette.

Big Hearts Small City helps people recover from a wide range of emergency situations. It has helped more than 400 fire victims alone since it formed four years ago.

Jaime Smith is one of them. Last spring she and her fiancé lost everything in an apartment fire and she says Surette was there to help.

“It gave us peace of mind because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Smith. “You don’t know where you’re going to be but we had somebody backing us every step of the way. We weren’t alone in it and we didn’t have to worry about what our next step was going to be.”

Big Hearts Small City is also a resource to other aid organizations, such as the Salvation Army, acting as a liaison once a victim’s situation becomes one of longer-term assistance.

“As a representative of the Salvation Army, we’re fully in support of Jason himself and of course his organization, and we feel that he is a much-needed organization in this community,” says community resource development coordinator Dean Pritchett.

Surette says the charity, which relies on donations to stay in business, has had to turn people away over the last two days due to the failed fundraiser.

“We’re sometimes the last resource for vulnerable people in our province so we don’t want to be the ones to tell them no because we know if we say no, there’s probably not much further things they can do,” he says.

Big Hearts Small City also provides emergency services and funds to people in Fredericton and Miramichi, but Surette says all aid is on hold until the charity can get back on its feet.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis