Fundraiser set up after car crashes into Fallowfield Township garage

Frank Rauchfuss’s Garage sustained extensive damage from the March 26 crash.

The hole in the back wall of Frank Rauchfuss’s Garage is still covered by tarps, but the longtime Fallowfield Township businessman is doing what he can to keep working.

More than two weeks after a vehicle slammed through Frank Rauchfuss’s Garage, the 77-year-old owner has partially reopened his longtime business, but he is still waiting for answers from state police regarding the crash.

He and his family have not yet seen a police report, or heard from an insurance agency.

Still, each day he works in the garage to sustain his business.

Family members, customers and friends are rallying to help him save the garage his family started in 1946.

Two tarps still cover a large hole in the back of the building at 452 Old Route 71, where a minivan crashed through March 26 after going over an embankment.

Rauchfuss has managed to piece enough equipment back together to continue working, but several major tools were damaged in the crash.

According to his niece, Amber Leezer, two of the garage’s car ramps were damaged. Rauchfuss was able to make temporary repairs to one so he can continue using it. Two alignment machines were also damaged, and he was able to patch one back together and get it running again.

“He’s open, but there was a lot of damage,” Leezer said. “The hole is still in the building.”

Leezer said her uncle still has not been able to obtain a police report or speak with Pennsylvania State Police about the crash.

“He has not been able to get hold of PSP,” she said. “They said they would put a note in, but he has not heard back. He does not even know the name of the man who hit the building.”

The driver, who has not been identified, was taken from the scene to an area hospital to be treated for a head injury. They have not received an update on his condition.

Leezer said family members have also been told the vehicle was borrowed and that neither the driver nor the vehicle’s owner had insurance, although they have not been able to confirm that information.

“We have not been contacted by any insurance companies to assess the damage,” Leezer said. “Right now, my uncle is being left to pay for everything out of pocket.”

To help cover the cost of repairs, Leezer created an online GoFundMe fundraiser for her uncle.

She said it is important to preserve her family’s legacy, as the garage was started by Leezer’s grandfather in the 1940s and has served the Fallowfield Township area for more than 65 years.

Rauchfuss, who was born in 1948, grew up in the garage and now owns and operates the business.

“The garage started two years before he was born, and it is really all he has ever known,” Leezer said. “He always planned to retire, and he did retire at one point, but he did not like sitting around so he went back to work. The garage keeps him going.”

Leezer said her uncle has endured several personal losses, including the deaths of his wife, son and granddaughter.

“He has had a lot of loss, and the shop keeps him going,” she said. “It is all he has aside from a few of us family members.”

Leezer said Rauchfuss had just gone inside for lunch moments before the crash.

“He heard an explosion and went running out,” she said. “The car hit so hard that it blew bricks from the back of the garage across the driveway.”

Firefighters later had to shore up the building because of the structural damage.

Leezer said the family hopes donations will help repair the building and replace some of the damaged equipment.

“We’re just trying to get the back of the building repaired or at least a portion of it,” she said.

Anyone wishing to donate can do so through the family’s GoFundMe page at https://gofund. me/0a6e5a42.

Leezer also encouraged community members to stop by and support the business.

To reach the business, call 724-483-7382.