Lee’s Deli after the crash (Photo from GoFundMe).

Lee’s Deli, a neighborhood corner store operating on Baltimore Avenue for nearly 30 years, has been closed for more than a week after a U-Haul van crashed into it at full speed last Sunday. While no one was injured in the crash (it happened around 4 a.m.), the deli sustained significant structural damage. The van hit the main support beam of the store located at 47th and Baltimore, which caused a brief evacuation of the apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floor. And inside the deli, the van “destroyed nearly everything,” according to owner Scott Lee.

After the initial assessment of the damage and some clean-up, the Lee’s Deli team planned to reopen their business after Thanksgiving, but now they realize that is is no longer impossible due to the level of damage. Encouraged by “friends, neighbors, and strangers” who had approached them asking how they can help, the team decided to set up a GoFundMe page for the business. The goal is to raise enough money to reopen as quickly as possible and to support the employees while the business remains closed.

Currently, the team is working hard with various specialists and Philadelphia officials to reopen in the near future (there is no definitive timeline yet).

“We are so grateful because our neighbors and our community have been showering us with non-stop love, support, and encouragement as we cope with the tragic end of a chapter at Lee’s Deli – but not the end of Lee’s Deli,” reads their message on the GoFundMe page.

For more information and to support these fundraising efforts, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-lees-deli-since-1993-in-philadelphia.

Inside Lee’s Deli after the crash.