After a horrible car accident, local businesses and community members have supported the hair salon.
On Feb. 24, a car drove through the storefront of a local business, Diane’s Place Hair Salon, located at 191 Main St., Port Washington. The driver got her shoe stuck on her accelerator pedal and drove the car entirely inside the store.
Police were on the scene quickly, and the driver was fine. The hair salon owner, Diane Basile, was not injured, but her sister, Sandra, was hit and fractured her pelvis. Sandra is in the hospital and is beginning her recovery.
Due to the narrowness of the store, most of the hair salon was destroyed in the accident.
The business next door, I Love Hearing, generously offered Diane’s Place space in their store to continue seeing clients till Basile can get back into her store.
“We always try to do things to serve our community,” said Terry Perumal, Director of Operations at I Love Hearing. “What we do here involves giving back, as in giving back patients their hearing. One of the things we preach to our team is to give support to the community, and taking in Diane’s Place is just another way we can help out.”
Cecilia Anderson, a friend of Basile, began a GoFundMe page for Diane, Sandra, and the hair salon. The donations will help the salon maintain rent and other expenses.
“Having to scale back while Sandra is recovering will surely be a huge financial hardship to such a small, independently owned shop,” wrote Anderson. “Anything contributed will be highly appreciated and a great help to such amazing women in our community.”
In a short five days since the GoFundMe page was created, the goal of raising $20,000 was met and exceeded. The page has raised more than $27,000 from 294 donors.
After seeing the donations, Anderson posted an update to the page, writing that Basile is overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and “could hardly speak through her tears.”
The Port Washington community went above and beyond for Diane’s Place to aid in her time of need. With help from the neighboring business and the community, Diane’s Place will remain a staple in Port Washington.
Visit gofundme.com and search “Help Diane and Sandra After Terrible Accident!” to donate and support Diane’s Place.
