Help Rebuild Don's Drive In After Crash

Hello, my name is Gina Burkhammer. My family owns a small property in Puyallup, Washington that includes a restaurant, Don's Drive In, and a coffee stand, Good Vibes Espresso.

On the afternoon of November 28, 2023, an impaired driver crashed his vehicle into the restaurant causing life threatening injuries to a Don’s Drive In employee and severe damage to the Don’s building.

Because of the accident, both Don's Drive In and Good Vibes Espresso have been closed. Good Vibes Espresso depends on the restaurant‘s facilities to function, so it also had to close because of the accident..

The Don's Drive In building was built in the 1960’s and is quite old. The accident caused significant cracks in almost the length of the building, which requires most of the entire side of the building needing taken down and being rebuilt. Unfortunately, on top of the damage, everything in the building now has to be up to current code to get the restaurant repaired and reopened. The building essentially has to be new, besides the "bones" of the building. The cost to do so has far exceeded what insurance will cover and the loss of income already so far has been financially devastating. To now also know that the repairs will cost more than insurance will cover has been an absolute blow. The driver was not only impaired but also had minimum liability insurance coverage, which has caused us even more hardship.

We are scrambling and trying to put our heads together to find a solution to be able to get the restaurant repaired, so that both Don's Drive In and Good Vibes Espresso can open back up to the community. Don's Drive In has been a staple in the Puyallup community for well over 30 years. It's a small, quaint place where people grew up eating with their families and now bring their own kids and grandkids. It's very important to get it back open and keep it open. The restaurant is a long time icon of Puyallup and has many great memories.

Our parents, Ken and Min, who were the owners of the restaurant until 2016, put their heart and soul into the restaurant for over 20 years. Sadly, they are no longer here with us, and it would mean absolutely everything to our family to be able to get the restaurant repaired and reopened.

Any and all donations would so greatly appreciated! We are working diligently to try and get Don’s repaired and reopened. With the help of the community, it would be phenomenal to get this gem in the Puyallup community reopen.