Community rallies around restaurant owner injured in collision

The sister of a local restaurateur recently injured in a motorcycle collision says the community and other small business owners in the community have stepped up while she begins her recovery in Sudbury.

On June 18, Jane McGoldrick was seriously injured in a motorcycle collision in Havilland Bay and spent a week in the intensive care unit in Sudbury, said twin sister Maggie in a telephone interview.

“She had major spine surgery and surgery on her left leg because it was broken in three places. She has a lot of physiotherapy ahead of her, which she has already started doing,” said Maggie about her sister’s injuries. “She’s in good spirits, she’s lucky. She did suffer a head injury but there are no lasting implications from that so we are really lucky she is alive. It was very, very scary.”

Jane is the owner of East Street Pizza Company in Sault Ste. Marie’s downtown and is head chef of United Way’s Harvest Algoma.

Maggie said keeping her sister focused on her own recovery has been a challenge.

“We are telling her to rest, which is hard for her because she is busy with her business and Harvest Algoma and doing different functions and events,” said Maggie. “She is always working to support others, so it is kind of hard to keep her relaxed at this point.”

In the meantime, Jane’s staff at the restaurant are doing their best to keep the operation afloat until she can get back.

Employees Kira McCarthy and Parth Dhingra worked Wednesday’s lunch rush at the restaurant, serving concerned regulars who came by to support the restaurant in Jane’s absence.

“We have seen a lot of community support and concern and it’s been overwhelming,” said McCarthy. “Our goal is to keep business operating as usual and stable and strong. Thankfully, with the support of Sault Ste. Marie, that is doable. So now she can focus on healing and getting better.”

Dhingra hopes Jane would be proud of the way all of the staff has come together to face the challenge.

“We want her to see that everything is good — we just want her to be here to sit and see us, how well we are doing it,” he said.

Being Jane’s twin came in handy for Maggie as she was recently helping to restock the restaurant.

“I had to go to Wholesale Club to pick up an order of food for the restaurant for the weekend and I don’t know what she buys on a daily basis, but I walked in — and of course I’m her twin — so they know who I was,” said Maggie. “Right away they came out and showed me what she buys. They were just so helpful in a crisis to be able to do that. You only get that because we have a really good business community that supports each other, that they knew who I was without even having to ask and knew exactly what she needed.”

Other community members and other local business owners are stepping up by supporting a GoFundMe intended for hotel, gas and other travel expenses so family members can be by Jane’s side.

Over $8,000 has been raised as of Wednesday afternoon, more than double the $3,000 goal.

“We had a big cry this morning. She is overwhelmed and thankful for the support," said Maggie of Jane's reaction to the crowdfunding effort.

Local artist Amy Williams has donated 30 prints of a rendering she did of the restaurant to be given out by donation, available to be purchased at East Street Pizza.

“It’s been really overwhelming — the number of community members who have reached out to help,” said Maggie. “It’s a community effort to keep things going.”

Angela Caputo, who owns the Breakfast Pig, has been especially supportive to the restaurant staff, said Maggie.

“(Jane and Angela) have been friends for a long time, but when push comes to shove it's good to know a fellow businesswoman has your back and that is the bond they share,” said Maggie.

Jane’s injury is just the latest challenge for the business.

“It’s been hard for East Street over the past two years with the pandemic. She didn’t get any assistance from the government for COVID relief because she opened right at the beginning of the pandemic so she couldn’t prove the loss of income to qualify for the grants. It’s been a long, hard battle to keep things going,”said Maggie.

She said her sister does have some medical benefits.

“They don’t cover everything and every little bit helps because we aren’t quite certain what the future is going to look like in terms of how long this is going to take, so that is our big struggle right now. We have to take it one day at a time,” she said.